Five Parsecs x Battletech

Posted by E.S. Wynn July 18, 2025

Five Parsecs x Battletech

I blame William H. Keith for this. Just kidding, but Decision at Thunder Rift did inspire me to print a traditional Locust LCT-1V to throw infantry at and Five Parsecs From Home: Tactics seemed to be an exciting way to bring it to the table. In order to do so, however, I had to figure out how to convert Battletech units to Five Parsecs statistics. What follows is a guide (including methodology), some example units and playtest data that gave me the real world experience needed to balance it all.

MOVEMENT:

To determine the speed of a Battlemech, multiply the 'Mech’s speed in hexes by 467%, then round down to the nearest whole number. (The 467% reflects the scale increase from 6mm scale hexspaces to 28mm scale.) Using the iconic Mad Cat as an example, we get a movement rate of 23” or 37” in a dash.

KILL POINTS:

To determine the Toughness and KP of a 'Mech, let’s look at the weight class of the 'Mech. We’re going to start by using “Light Walkers” as examples of Protomechs and “Heavy Walkers” as examples of light class Battlemechs. For both, we would have a Toughness of 8, but with 4KP for the Protomech and 5KP for the Light 'Mech. Also, a “Heavy Tank” (per Five Parsecs: Tactics) has 8KP and 10 Toughness. Using all of this information as a baseline (and modifying so we don’t end up with a ridiculous amount of die rolling or conversion calculations,) we can posit the following stat classes:

UNIVERSAL 'MECH TRAITS:

Sprinting: -1 penalty to hit this unit if it moves more than 10”.

Multi-Trac Targeting: When targeting other 'Mechs (including protomechs) and military / fighting vehicles (like tanks) 'Mechs only gain range-based penalties at distances greater than half the range of the weapon being fired.

Reactor Heat: See Heat section below (after Weapons).

Enormous: ‘Mechs may treat terrain shorter than the model’s legs as difficult terrain (as long as there is room for their legs / base). Conversely, they do not gain cover from terrain unless it is large enough to cover at least 90% of their legs.

Plated: ‘Mechs are not stunned by hits and cannot be immobilized by attackers “targeting the legs.”

OPTIONAL TRAITS:

Jumpjets (10pts): This unit may ignore all terrain restrictions when making a normal move, but may fire one less weapon without incurring Heat.

Double Heatsinks (15pts): This unit may fire an extra weapon without incurring Heat.

MASC (10pts): This unit may dash as a free action. When it does, resolve a 3(x3) damage hit against it (this does not stun it or have any additional effect on it.)

Ferro-Fibrous Armor (15pt): +2 KP

WEAPONS:

Using the weapons tables in Five Parsecs: Tactics, we can posit the following conversions for IntroTech weapons:

Later era weapons: Clan weapons (like ER Lasers) generally have boosts to range and damage. These can be homebrewed based off the IntroTech statistics above pretty easily. Weapons like Ultra Autocannons and Rotary Autocannons gain additional shots (the same way they do in Classic BT,) but also should gain additional point costs. LBX Autocannons could be treated like LRMs, with one volley of shots, each gaining its own damage roll.

HEAT:

While at first I was inclined to ignore heat on IntroTech units (they’re already penalized by the points added for every weapon they carry) Ivan Sorensen (the guy who wrote Five Parsecs) suggested that ‘Mechs could have a baked-in number of weapons they can fire in a turn. I like this idea, so I expanded upon it:

A Battlemech can fire 2 weapons without penalty each turn. Every time a 'Mech fires more than that (any amount more than that) it is an Alpha Strike and the pilot suffers a -1 penalty to Combat Skill next turn. If the pilot fires no weapons next turn, the penalty goes away, but if the pilot fires any weapons at all, it stays. If the pilot does another Alpha Strike, an additional -1 penalty is applied (bringing it to -2.) This is cumulative, and the mech must forgo firing weapons for a full turn in order to drop a single -1 penalty.

SPEED CONSIDERATIONS:

‘Mechs move fast. At 28mm scale, they move insanely fast. As a boss enemy on a 2’ x 2’ board, something like a LCT-1V Locust can basically just move itself to any point on the table once every turn. Is the solution a larger table? No. While that might work for ‘Mech v. ‘Mech battles in 28mm, using Five Parsecs: Tactics, it suffers from the same issue we see in Classic Battletech. Infantry can get left behind and become irrelevant.

Since 28mm is a scale where infantry can shine, the last thing we want to do is cut them out of the equation. Instead, ignore the speed issue and create battlefields that give the advantage to infantry. Dense urban environments with terrain placed to deny access to walkers while providing cover to infantry are a good place to start. Let the 'Mech dart all over the place. It doesn’t matter where the unit moves to if your soldiers are dug-in or spreading out to get those rear-angle shots. Conversely, you can also use slower 'Mechs as boss enemies. An Urbanmech, for example, has a speed of 9” when converted with this system, making it faster than infantry but slow enough to intercept and control on the battlefield.

EXAMPLES:

Given everything above, let’s stat out some of the 'Mechs I’ve printed in 28mm scale so that they can function as boss-level encounters for Five Parsecs.

Locust LCT-1V

Speed: 36" (Dash: 56”)

Tough: 8, KP: 5

Medium Laser: 48", 1 shot, dmg: 5(x3)

Machinegun: 30", 3 shots, dmg: 0

Traits: None

Points: 145

Urbanmech UM-R60

Speed: 9" (Dash: 14”)

Tough: 8, KP: 5

Autocannon 10: 70”, 1 shot, dmg: 5(x3)

Small Laser: 15”, 1 shot, dmg: 3(x3)

Traits: Jumpjets

Points: 160

Firestarter FS9-H

Speed: 28" (Dash: 42”)

Tough: 8, KP: 5

Medium Laser: 48", 1 shot, dmg: 5(x3)

Machinegun: 30", 3 shots, dmg: 0

Flamer: 15", 1 shot, dmg: 4, Area, Burn

Traits: Jump Jets

Points: 270

CLAN UNITS:

Then, let’s expand it to include some more advanced Clan units from my 28mm Battletech collection:

Minotaur

Speed: 14” (Dash: 23”)

Tough: 8, KP: 4

ER Medium Laser (Clan): 70”, 1 shot, dmg 6(x3) (45pts)

Traits: Jump Jets

Points: 160

Commando IIC

Speed: 28” (Dash: 42”)

Tough: 8, KP: 4

SRM 6: 48", 6 shots, dmg: 5/ea

SRM 4: 48", 4 shots, dmg: 5/ea

ER Medium Laser (Clan) 70”, 1 shot, dmg 6(x3) (45pts)

Traits: Double Heat Sinks

Points: 285

Locust IIC-6

Speed: 37” (Dash: 56”)

Tough: 8, KP: 7

Heavy Machine Gun: 20", 6 shot, Damage 0 (20pts)

ER Medium Laser (Clan): 70”, 1 shot, Damage 6(x3) (45pts)

Traits: Ferro-Fibrous, Double Heat Sinks

Points: 285

Nova (Prime Config)

Speed: 23” (Dash: 37”)

Tough: 8, KP: 10

ER Medium Laser (Clan) 70”, 1 shot, Damage 6(x3) (45pts)

Traits: Double Heat Sinks, Jump Jets, Ferro Fibrous

Points: 630

Timber Wolf (Prime Config)

Speed: 23” (Dash: 37”)

Tough: 10, KP: 12

LRM 20 (Clan): 100", 20 shots, 3/ea (Area), (100pts)

Machine Gun: 30", 3 shots, Damage 0 (10pts)

ER Large Laser (Clan): 92", 1 shot, Damage 9(x3) (65pts)

Medium Pulse Laser (Clan): 48", 3 shots, Damage (5x3) (45pts)

ER Medium Laser (Clan): 70”, 1 shot, Damage 6(x3) (45pts)

Traits: Ferro-Fibrous, Double Heat Sinks

Points: 715

Mad Dog (Prime Config)

Speed: 23” (Dash: 37”)

Tough: 10, KP: 12

LRM 20 (Clan): 100", 20 shots, 3/ea (Area), (100pts)

Large Pulse Laser (Clan): 70", 3 shot, Damage 8(x3) (65pts)

Medium Pulse Laser (Clan): 48", 3 shots, Damage (5x3) (45pts)

Traits: Ferro-Fibrous, Double Heat Sinks

Points: 650

INFERRED BATTLE ARMOR UNITS:

Reverse-engineering these rules also provides the opportunity to create mock-ups for battle armor I have in my 28mm Battletech collection. As these are not ‘Mechs (or even technically vehicles), they are not subject to the traits and special rules that govern those. The only exception might be that they can carry the weapons mounted on them without being part of a team and without roll penalties. Like infantry, they can only use one of their weapons at a time.

Elemental Battle Armor (standard)

Speed: 4" (Dash: 6”)

Tough: 7, KP: 3

BA Small Laser (Clan): 15”, 1 shot, dmg: 3(x3)

BA Auto Rifle: 24" 2 shots, dmg 0

BA SRM-2 (Clan): 48", 2 shots, 5dmg/ea (Area)(5pts - Fires Once)

BA Battle Claw: Dmg 3, melee, clumsy, piercing.

Traits: Jumpjets, 6+ Armor Saving Throw.

Points: 55

Kage Battle Armor (DEST)

Speed: 4" (Dash: 10”)

Tough: 6, KP: 3

BA Small Laser (IS): 15”, 1 shot, dmg: 2(x3)

BA Auto Rifle: 24" 2 shots, dmg 0

Power Glove: Dmg 3, melee, clumsy, piercing.

Partial Wing: +4” to Dash movement when using Jumpjets.

Traits: Jumpjets, 6+ Armor Saving Throw.

Points: 35

Kage Battle Armor (Flamer)

Speed: 4" (Dash: 10”)

Tough: 6, KP: 3

BA Flamer: 12", 1 shot, 1 dmg, Area, Burn.

BA Auto Rifle: 24" 2 shots, dmg 0

Power Glove: Dmg 3, melee, clumsy, piercing.

Partial Wing: +4” to Dash movement when using Jumpjets.

Traits: Jumpjets, 6+ Armor Saving Throw.

Points: 35

Kage Battle Armor (MG)

Speed: 4" (Dash: 10”)

Tough: 6, KP: 3

BA Machine Gun: 24" 3 shots, 0 damage.

BA Auto Rifle: 24" 2 shots, dmg 0

Power Glove: Dmg 3, melee, clumsy, piercing.

Partial Wing: +4” to Dash movement when using Jumpjets.

Traits: Jumpjets, 6+ Armor Saving Throw.

Points: 35

PERFORMANCE:

Without actually getting units on the field, everything is just theory, right? That’s where this section comes in. While I ran a couple of test scenarios to experiment with the weapons, speed and infantry dynamics, I only took the time to photograph the first full skirmish. Pictures and breakdown of the battle follow.

This was an intense battle, about an hour in length. Originally, I gave the Urbie a 200pt value (same as a Heavy Tank) and put it up against 220pts of infantry (four 55 pt squads) counting sixes as hits, but not as exploding hits, as far as damage goes. I did this because military rifles can’t scratch something with the “Toughness” of a 'Mech otherwise. I dropped the exploding sixes because I didn’t want to create the potential for a scenario where one lucky soldier rolls boxcars and blasts the Urbie pilot in one round (as true to Classic BT as that might be.)

To give an idea to the folks reading this who have only played Classic BT, this battle is basically the equivalent of an Urbie wandering into a rubble hex to fight a platoon of infantry and staying in the same hex the whole time. No smart pilot is going to do that at 'Mech scale, but it does make for an epic battle at infantry scale.

All told, the Urbanmech gave as good as it got. 11 kills, with five units failing morale checks and running away from battle. Four rifle infantry of the original 20 survived and brought the Urbie down in a valiant last stand. Using cover and splitting into squads to lead the Urbie around the map (opening up important rear firing arc attack angles) was the only thing that allowed the rifle platoon to take down the ‘Mech in the end. In a head-on battle with no cover, this would have been a massacre.

Another consideration is that the Urbanmech is not optimized for anti-infantry work. Sure, it’s lackluster at any scale, but at 28mm, it would be better against another 'Mech rather than hunting infantry. Had I brought out my Locust IIC-6 against a platoon of rifle infantry, this battle would have been over a lot quicker, but that’s what you’d expect in Classic BT as well. The Locust IIC-6 is a walking war crime capable of turning a bunched-up platoon into hamburger in the first turn with lucky rolls.

Playing ‘Mech v. ‘Mech at this scale is quick and dirty. As an example, the Nova Prime, with its ten Clan-grade ER Medium Lasers is capable of making ten shots on an Alpha Strike, with the potential (if they all hit) of generating as much as 30 KP in damage to another 'Mech. This isn’t as unreasonable as it might sound at first if you’ve ever fielded a Nova Prime in Classic BT (and it can’t do that every turn in either this conversion or in classic) but it is enough to drop a Superheavy Battlemech in the first salvo with some very lucky rolls.

The rifle infantry in these shots are mostly from the Ooh-Rah range by Wargames Atlantic, though there are some old Copplestone metals, Stargrave kitbashes, Bolt Action kitbashes, Zombicide figures and some FDM printed soldiers of my own design mixed in there too. I really had to dig to find 20 painted rifle infantry in a unified scheme!

The Urbanmech is a sculpt by Wolk that I scaled up 467% and printed on my Elegoo Mars 4 in two pieces (torso and legs.) I had to hollow them out to save on resin cost, but all told this thing probably cost about $7 to print, took 10 hours to create and about 2 hours to paint.

As a final consideration, for those who enjoy playing Five Parsecs at 15mm scale, Catalyst and Iron Wind Metals (now also owned by Catalyst?) have a few "Museum" or "C" scale miniatures that are basically 15mm in scale. It's a more neglected scale for wargaming, but Five Parsecs works great with it, so you can easily run scenarios like this at that scale with no issues. (If you do, I recommend cutting the 28mm ranges for weapons and 'Mech speeds above in half, unless you want a truly intense game.)

CHANGELOG:

No changes have been made to this post.

Search This Blog

Fistful of Valkyries

Five Parsecs x Battletech

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Mass Effect: IC-342 (Ironsworn: Starforged) Session 0

28mm Battletech

Heavy Gear Proxies For Battletech

MicroTech (Battletech)

The Truth and the Word (Battletech Short Story)