28mm Battletech

 

There’s something about building, painting and photographing Battletech mechs at 28mm scale which gives you a level of appreciation for these machines that nothing else does. At 6mm, the normal scale, Battletech mechs are conveniently small, towering over a tiny battlefield where every metric millimeter is equal to a standard foot of height. The machines are still fearsome, sure, but they aren’t terrifying. They don’t put a weight in your gut like the mechs at larger scales do. I think that it’s only at 28mm that you really start to see how intimidating these things really could be to face on the battlefield.

Going in the opposite direction from my post on “MicroTech” back in December of last year, I took a month or so to explore Battletech in 28mm. Truth be told, it all started with Protomechs. If you aren’t familiar with Protomechs, they are (very) light mecha units that bridge the gap between battle armor and mechs. There is some intersectionality between Ultralight Mechs (10 & 15 tons) and Ultraheavy Protomechs (10 to 15 tons and every weight in between) but each category has their own unique flavor and qualities. 

Players of the game tend to either love Protomechs or hate them (I love them) because of their ability to dodge hits (1 in 18 chance) and their light loadout at higher C-Bill cost. Some players openly hate them because of their beastly or demonic aesthetic, but to me, that’s just one of their many qualities. They look different than the blocky Battlemechs we’re used to seeing, and that makes them fresh and interesting. In the lore, Protomechs are a last ditch attempt by the clans to leverage technology and gain an advantage on the battlefield in any way that they can. Psychological warfare is one of those ways that has been incorporated into the design of protomechs from the very beginning.

That part of their design really shines when we scale Battletech up to 28mm. 28mm is skirmish scale. It’s a scale that typically focuses on infantry as unique units instead of as whole platoons. When you consider that even a single point of damage at Battletech’s normal 6mm scale is enough to reduce any armored infantryman to a fine red mist, most of the weapons utilized by the mechs of the game would be total overkill if used against infantry. Firing a PPC (Particle Projector Cannon) at a mech can be devastating. Firing it at a single soldier is about like firing a cannon at a mosquito. 

Take the Siren Protomech as an example of how different play at these two scales can be. The Siren is a 3 ton machine that moves at 162kph and carries two Light Machine Guns. At BattleTech scale, this thing has only a single advantage– it’s fast. Its two weapons each do only a single point of damage and pretty much any hit from a medium laser is going to vaporize this thing. It’s not going to have a prayer against anything larger than a flea or a locust, and even then, you better be rolling boxcars in the back arc over and over again or all you’re going to do is dent the armor.

At infantry scale, the Siren is terrifying. Not only is it a two story tall beast of myomer and steel, those two light machineguns can liquefy any trooper unlucky enough to get caught in its firing arc. At 162kph, a squad of guys will get about one shot (maybe) before they’re cut down by this pinnacle of terror and technology.

And that’s just one of the lighter protomechs.

Now, granted, my collection of 28mm Battletech units that I’ve printed, assembled and painted myself comprises a lot more than just protomechs. The Nova, Panther, Urbie and Flea are mechs designed for mech on mech combat, but my Locust IIC 6 (and the stock Locust I’m in process of building) are anti-infantry variations that are truly terrifying at 28mm scale. The Locust IIC 6 carries a whopping six heavy machine guns, making it a meatgrinder capable of easily eating up an entire platoon of armored infantry in a single salvo. This, again, is where 28mm Battletech really shines. At 6mm, this Locust IIC 6 has speed on its side and that’s about it. It’s not going to be punching above its weight class, or even at its weight class. It’s designed to punch down, and at 28mm, it would be cruel to use it even as a sort of final boss for a narrative campaign. This thing is twenty tons of unstoppable force projecting a wall of hot lead in every direction. You’re going to need a lot of soldiers to take it down, and even then, be prepared to lose most, if not all of them.

So how does this translate into hard and fast, playable rules? The truth is, I’m not entirely sure yet. I’ve been asked about what rule sets would work best for Battletech at this scale, and I have some recommendations, but I haven’t personally played with any of them yet. To me, the main joy here has been in the painting and photographing. I will certainly break these units out for some gaming someday, but right now they are more just display / conversation pieces to put on a shelf in the office.

When I do break them out for play, I’ve been thinking about setting them up as boss-like encounters in a game of Five Parsecs From Home. I suppose that the easiest way to utilize 28mm Battletech miniatures for gaming is just to convert hexes (or inches) to feet for distances of movement and firing. This doesn’t do infantry the justice they deserve (it favors the machines, the way 6mm Battletech does,) but it’ll work in a pinch.

There is also the official and original ruleset called Battletroops, which is currently out of print, but you can find info on it here. CGL has stated that they are looking into reworking and reprinting it, so we’ll see what comes of that, if anything. It’s not (as of this writing) currently being worked on, probably because the production of 28mm Battlemechs sets a high bar for players, who will either need to purchase expensive “destiny scale” mechs or build their own, as I have, using the tiny print bed on my Elegoo Mars 4. Either way, you’re looking at an outlay of hundreds of dollars at best, plus a big learning curve on top of that if you’re building them yourself. Call it obsession, call it labor of love– I can’t help but enjoy the results, but I know I’m one of the rare few willing to do it.

Whether you can get your hands on Battletroops or not, Crow Industries has a fun looking ruleset called “Trueborn” that I haven’t tried yet, but which is absolutely built with Battletech in mind. It is available to play, but is also actively being worked on, with more content to come for the game in the future.

There are also miniature agnostic systems that could be adapted for battles at this scale like One Page Rules  and my own Bellona or Crux from Ill Gotten Games. Whatever system you end up using, you’ll need to stat out your units by hand, but at least once you’ve got the notes down, you won’t have to do it again.

With the announcement of the upcoming release of Battletech: Gothic (along with all of the vitriol, disappointment, excitement and general hand-wringing fans are doing around it) I’m in the process of transitioning out of 28mm Battletech and into the grimdark and abominable side of the hobby. Keep an eye out here for more in the coming weeks or so.