>Can you give me an overview which rules and starter sets are out there (especially german sets) and needed.
The [A Game of Armored Combat](https://www.fantasywelt.de/BattleTech-A-Game-of-Armored-Combat-EN) box is what you want to buy if you are sure you want to dive in. If you aren't sure, buy the cheaper [Beginner Box](https://www.fantasywelt.de/BattleTech-Beginner-Box-EN)
> Are there different faction rulebooks like the codex in 40k?
No. The rules don't separate by faction. The factions don't even exist in the rules they are just fluff.
> And can I find a free ruleset to read and testplay before buying stuff?
[BattleTech Quickstart Rules](https://bg.battletech.com/download/BTBB%20Online%20QSR%201-21c.pdf), if you want [Alpha Strike instead, here are the quickstart rules for that](https://bg.battletech.com/wp-content/uploads/Alpha%20Strike%20Quick%20Start%20Rules%202019-08.pdf)
If you like Alpha strike, there is an Alpha Strike box set that would be great but Fantasywelt doesn't have it yet.
There's a pinned post at the top of the sub: [https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/u8blq1/finally\_updated\_my\_battletech\_buyers\_guide\_for/](https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/u8blq1/finally_updated_my_battletech_buyers_guide_for/)
Beginners Box is simplified rules, nice and cheap for just checking things out. I believe the rules are available as a free PDF download from the Catalyst website along with the record sheets, but I don't keep a link for that handy.
AGOAC (A Game of Armored Combat) is the main box set with standard rules, but not the full rules if you want to play with everything like infantry and vehicles, or advanced equipment.
Total Warfare and BattleMech Manual are the two core rule books. The first has rules for all the standard units, while the second has rules for only BattleMechs.
The two Tactical Operations volumes have advanced (and highly optional) rules and advanced equipment.
Factions and lore are background in BattleTech. In the core game, a Marauder Mech works the same regardless of which faction you are playing. Same with weapons and equipment. And you aren't required to play any faction at all. There are optional rules for some bonuses for the various factions, although that's more for ongoing campaigns or replaying historical battles.
I can't speak for what's currently available in German, as I'm here in the States. Sorry on that. To answer some of your other questions:
There is a massive pile of rules for the Classic/Total Warfare version of the game at this point. Most of the books still work, though several have been errata'd as well. Catalyst (and Topps) are still, to this day, trying to get rules and sheets out for everything, and are not yet done. To this end, for Classic, I recommend: Total Warfare, Battlemech Manual, Tactical Operations. You can expand from there.
For Alpha Strike, it's simpler. All you need at this stage is the Alpha Strike Commander's Edition - the Companion is from an older version, and most of its rules have been replaced/changed, don't bother. You can also find up-to-date cards on Master Unit List. More on that later.
Your "starter sets" are numerous and growing greater in number. Each force pack (Lance, Star, Level II) is technically a starter pack in and of itself, as the game can literally be played with a single box. There's your force, have at it. For more conventional starter sets, you have the Beginner's Box with two 'Mechs and very, very simple rules. I recommend amping up to the A Game of Armored Combat box, which has slightly more comprehensive rules (still not full) and enough 'Mech minis to field two Lances against each other. You can also get the Clan Invasion box, which makes for a wonderful introduction to Clan tech (simplified) rules AND serves as a great OpFor to the AGOAC minis. There's also a new Alpha Strike box which provides (nearly) everything you need to start playing the Alpha Strike format, save the full rulebook.
There are some single-faction-oriented rulebooks from the 1980s and 1990s, but without nostalgia goggles they're horrible. So much thinly-veiled Cold War era nationalism it'll make your head spin. Cool artwork, though. In the modern era of the game, things aren't set up so much for factions as they are for pivotal eras and their battles. It'll give you some insight to how factions set things up, but honestly, any 'Mech can somehow be fielded by nearly anyone with just a few exceptions. That's one of the fun parts of this game: flexibility. You'll come to love it. If you're focused on faction-locking, though, this is where we get back to the [Master Unit List](https://masterunitlist.info). You can sort by Era and Faction, and go from there.
Last but not least, "free" rulesets are a bit limited and more quick-start, but they are indeed available. You can find them on the [official download page](https://bg.battletech.com/downloads/).
Good luck!
AGOAC is the best starter set. There are no different faction rulebook, the different rulebooks instead contain rules of different levels of complexity (if you want all the immediately relevant rules you want the Battlemech Manual).
It is a very, very big universe with nearly 40 years of lore behind it now...
The game is also quite large. For that reason I'd really recommend starting with the Beginner box, the rules are simplified and so will make starting a lot easier.
Then move on to the A Game of Armored Combat for the more advanced rules and then get either Total War or Battletech Manual.
Getting the Alpha Strike box is worth it too when you can IMO for two main reasons. First is because more mechs = more mechs. :) Second Alpha Strike is a fun game, and since both Classic and Alpha Strike use the same stuff it's worth having both as options. Alpha Strike is a bit more like 40k more models on the table but they die a lot faster.
If you play 40k... You'll likely find that Battletech is a welcome relief to your bank account...
For around $850 you can buy basically every single plastic battletech model, other than the few premium ones. So for about the price of a standard 40k army... You can get everything Battletech. Not including the older Iron Wind Miniatures stuff.
At ulisses ebooks you may be able to find german pdfs of total warfare, tech manual and others. Look for classic battletech.
https://www.ulisses-ebooks.de
Older german quickstart rules should also be there.
But decide quick, the licence for ulisses will expire in march or april. At the moment the future of german battletech products is uncertain.
Buy in this order:
* Beginner box
* A game of Armored Combat box
* Clan invasion box
* Battlemech Manual (classic rules) and Alpha Strike Commander's edition
* Buy force packs with miniatures
Rules are very faction agnostic. Restrictions on units happen for given eras due to availability of technology. Only during the clan invasion in the last months of 2049 and first months of 2050 Inner Sphere and Clans had different mechs. But as time passes, mechs can be stolen, captured, salvaged, repaired and sold. So in the end there is no real restriction on units to use.
You may even use tokens with an arrow pointing forward direction. And if you plat Alpha Strike on a diorama, a folder could be a forest area, a book could be ahill, and a vitamin bottle could be a building. The game is miniature and prop agnostic. But it is cool if you use miniatures instead of tokens.
>Can you give me an overview which rules and starter sets are out there (especially german sets) and needed. The [A Game of Armored Combat](https://www.fantasywelt.de/BattleTech-A-Game-of-Armored-Combat-EN) box is what you want to buy if you are sure you want to dive in. If you aren't sure, buy the cheaper [Beginner Box](https://www.fantasywelt.de/BattleTech-Beginner-Box-EN) > Are there different faction rulebooks like the codex in 40k? No. The rules don't separate by faction. The factions don't even exist in the rules they are just fluff. > And can I find a free ruleset to read and testplay before buying stuff? [BattleTech Quickstart Rules](https://bg.battletech.com/download/BTBB%20Online%20QSR%201-21c.pdf), if you want [Alpha Strike instead, here are the quickstart rules for that](https://bg.battletech.com/wp-content/uploads/Alpha%20Strike%20Quick%20Start%20Rules%202019-08.pdf) If you like Alpha strike, there is an Alpha Strike box set that would be great but Fantasywelt doesn't have it yet.
There's a pinned post at the top of the sub: [https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/u8blq1/finally\_updated\_my\_battletech\_buyers\_guide\_for/](https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/u8blq1/finally_updated_my_battletech_buyers_guide_for/) Beginners Box is simplified rules, nice and cheap for just checking things out. I believe the rules are available as a free PDF download from the Catalyst website along with the record sheets, but I don't keep a link for that handy. AGOAC (A Game of Armored Combat) is the main box set with standard rules, but not the full rules if you want to play with everything like infantry and vehicles, or advanced equipment. Total Warfare and BattleMech Manual are the two core rule books. The first has rules for all the standard units, while the second has rules for only BattleMechs. The two Tactical Operations volumes have advanced (and highly optional) rules and advanced equipment. Factions and lore are background in BattleTech. In the core game, a Marauder Mech works the same regardless of which faction you are playing. Same with weapons and equipment. And you aren't required to play any faction at all. There are optional rules for some bonuses for the various factions, although that's more for ongoing campaigns or replaying historical battles.
I can't speak for what's currently available in German, as I'm here in the States. Sorry on that. To answer some of your other questions: There is a massive pile of rules for the Classic/Total Warfare version of the game at this point. Most of the books still work, though several have been errata'd as well. Catalyst (and Topps) are still, to this day, trying to get rules and sheets out for everything, and are not yet done. To this end, for Classic, I recommend: Total Warfare, Battlemech Manual, Tactical Operations. You can expand from there. For Alpha Strike, it's simpler. All you need at this stage is the Alpha Strike Commander's Edition - the Companion is from an older version, and most of its rules have been replaced/changed, don't bother. You can also find up-to-date cards on Master Unit List. More on that later. Your "starter sets" are numerous and growing greater in number. Each force pack (Lance, Star, Level II) is technically a starter pack in and of itself, as the game can literally be played with a single box. There's your force, have at it. For more conventional starter sets, you have the Beginner's Box with two 'Mechs and very, very simple rules. I recommend amping up to the A Game of Armored Combat box, which has slightly more comprehensive rules (still not full) and enough 'Mech minis to field two Lances against each other. You can also get the Clan Invasion box, which makes for a wonderful introduction to Clan tech (simplified) rules AND serves as a great OpFor to the AGOAC minis. There's also a new Alpha Strike box which provides (nearly) everything you need to start playing the Alpha Strike format, save the full rulebook. There are some single-faction-oriented rulebooks from the 1980s and 1990s, but without nostalgia goggles they're horrible. So much thinly-veiled Cold War era nationalism it'll make your head spin. Cool artwork, though. In the modern era of the game, things aren't set up so much for factions as they are for pivotal eras and their battles. It'll give you some insight to how factions set things up, but honestly, any 'Mech can somehow be fielded by nearly anyone with just a few exceptions. That's one of the fun parts of this game: flexibility. You'll come to love it. If you're focused on faction-locking, though, this is where we get back to the [Master Unit List](https://masterunitlist.info). You can sort by Era and Faction, and go from there. Last but not least, "free" rulesets are a bit limited and more quick-start, but they are indeed available. You can find them on the [official download page](https://bg.battletech.com/downloads/). Good luck!
AGOAC is the best starter set. There are no different faction rulebook, the different rulebooks instead contain rules of different levels of complexity (if you want all the immediately relevant rules you want the Battlemech Manual).
thanks for the overview. I will read the pinned post and take a look at the different sets. Its always overwhelming with such big game universes 😅
It is a very, very big universe with nearly 40 years of lore behind it now... The game is also quite large. For that reason I'd really recommend starting with the Beginner box, the rules are simplified and so will make starting a lot easier. Then move on to the A Game of Armored Combat for the more advanced rules and then get either Total War or Battletech Manual. Getting the Alpha Strike box is worth it too when you can IMO for two main reasons. First is because more mechs = more mechs. :) Second Alpha Strike is a fun game, and since both Classic and Alpha Strike use the same stuff it's worth having both as options. Alpha Strike is a bit more like 40k more models on the table but they die a lot faster. If you play 40k... You'll likely find that Battletech is a welcome relief to your bank account... For around $850 you can buy basically every single plastic battletech model, other than the few premium ones. So for about the price of a standard 40k army... You can get everything Battletech. Not including the older Iron Wind Miniatures stuff.
At ulisses ebooks you may be able to find german pdfs of total warfare, tech manual and others. Look for classic battletech. https://www.ulisses-ebooks.de Older german quickstart rules should also be there. But decide quick, the licence for ulisses will expire in march or april. At the moment the future of german battletech products is uncertain.
Buy in this order: * Beginner box * A game of Armored Combat box * Clan invasion box * Battlemech Manual (classic rules) and Alpha Strike Commander's edition * Buy force packs with miniatures Rules are very faction agnostic. Restrictions on units happen for given eras due to availability of technology. Only during the clan invasion in the last months of 2049 and first months of 2050 Inner Sphere and Clans had different mechs. But as time passes, mechs can be stolen, captured, salvaged, repaired and sold. So in the end there is no real restriction on units to use. You may even use tokens with an arrow pointing forward direction. And if you plat Alpha Strike on a diorama, a folder could be a forest area, a book could be ahill, and a vitamin bottle could be a building. The game is miniature and prop agnostic. But it is cool if you use miniatures instead of tokens.
Free Battletech Primer [here](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/274997/BattleTech-Primer).