Editing BattleTech (section)

==Spinoff Games==
Due to its popularity through the late 80s and early 90s, ''BattleTech'' spawned a multitude of spinoffs and expansion games. 

'''[[Lost Worlds]]''' dueling books. NOVA adapted their melee dueling system to make four books for BattleTech mecha.  Each book has the opponent's view of the 'Mech on each page, and a character sheet listing possible maneuvers.  Since it used the same system as the rest of their books, you could have "20-ton Locust vs. skeleton with scimitar" duels.

'''MechWarrior''' was a traditional pen-and-paper RPG set in the BattleTech universe, using a ruleset similar to FASA's other hit RPG [[Shadowrun]]. It got second(1991) and third(1999) editions, then was later rebooted by Fanpro and Catalyst Games under the respective titles ''Classic BattleTech RPG'' and  '''BattleTech: A Time of War''', likely to avoid conflation with WhizKids' ''MechWarrior: Dark Age''. Also because by then the "MechWarrior" title was fully associated with the video games. 

'''AeroTech''' and '''BattleSpace''' were both games featuring Aerospace Fighters and DropShips/WarShips respectively, fighting in orbit before any of the action in the BattleTech game itself could begin. Both games eventually got absorbed into BattleTech's rules in the ''Total Warfare'' edition. 

'''Battletroops''' was an infantry-scale game about the PBI who fight it out it in the shadow of BattleMechs. It later gained ''Clantroops'', an expansion pack that incorporated clan equipment as well as Battle Armor on both sides, but the game did not sell as well and the rules have since been abandoned.

'''Battleforce''' was a revision of '''BattleTech''', made in recognition of the fact that large-scale combat could not be effectively played out using the current system. Battleforce simplified each 'Mech into a simple set of numbers, so that they could be clustered into units and fight over a much larger area. Battleforce 2, released about a decade later, also introduced planetary invasion maps and rules to go along with them. Although the maps are available in Map Compilation 2, the rules will be reprinted in the ''Strategic Operations'' and ''Interstellar Operations'' sourcebooks.

The '''Solaris VII Boxed set''' was made to simulate the fast-paced gladiatorial combat on the game's world of Solaris VII. It included new rules, new maps with special rules, new 'Mechs, and supplements for roleplaying. Little known fact: some of the designs used in the original Solaris VII set were redesigns of the ''BattleTech'' 'Mechs which were themselves copies of Japanese mechs! When the product tried to sell in Japan, half of the designs were already copyrighted by other well known anime companies, and the in-house designs were simply not "Japanese" enough for their tastes.  Though the product itself flopped, its maps were reprinted and rereleased in 2004, as well as a complimentary up-to-date rulebook. Rules have since been standardized to match those of ''Classic BattleTech'', but "Special Map rules" have been included. 

The '''BattleTech Collectible Cardgame''' was produced by Wizards of the Coast in 1996, and ran until 1998. Though its popularity had begun to wane after the first core set, the release of the Pokemon card game was the nail in the coffin. The BattleTech CCG hosted some very impressive artwork, though the game favored swarm-decks filled with plenty of weak, cheap 'Mechs, and it's non-"Creature" cards were too weak to have an effective deck based around them. After five editions (''BattleTech Limited''/''Unlimited'', ''Counterstrike'', ''Mercenaries'', ''MechWarrior'', ''Arsenal'') BattleTech CCG came out with ''Commander's Edition'', which picked some of the best cards of the last few editions (though it abandoned or revised some cards for inaccuracies or "brokenness") It had one final expansion, Crusade, which introduced the Steel Viper clan, though there were some prior cards that did reference the clan.

In July, 2013, Catalyst Game Labs released '''Alpha Strike''', a miniatures combat ruleset designed specifically to appeal to fans of Warhammer and Flames of War. It combined BattleForce statistics with improved miniatures rules.  It's generally scoffed at by grognards but the only feasible way to play a regiment-sized battle in less than one lifetime.