In Case of Emergency
Have you ever been in a situation where you thought to yourself or even out loud, “Wow, I’m bored, I wish we could play some Battletech but I don’t have everything I need.”
That’s horrible and I can empathize. Battletech is a complex game by design. There are more than a few items that are required to play the game. Sometimes you just don’t have the tools to do the job.
Until now.
What if you always kept a ready stock of Classic Battletech material on your person or within easy reach at all times? Enough for a lance on lance beat-down or grinder ready in five minutes? And what if this all fit conveniently into one of those manila envelopes you’ve likely seen floating around?
Materials Required
- Maps
- Some Dice
- Record Sheets
- Common tables for easy reference
- Paper counters for figures
- A Pencil or two (mechanical is best)
- An envelope for easy storage and transport
Stuck in an airport with no way out? You have a time killer within easy reach (assuming you didn’t check it)
Power outage ruined your movie night? You have an answer to quell the boredom (so long as you have a flashlight handy).
Zombie apocalypse? You’ll be able to wait out the bastards assuming your loved one wasn’t already bitten.
The Best Things In Life Are (inside a) Free (pdf)
Catalyst comes to the rescue with a monstrously generous pile of free PDFs that are perfect to use in a Battletech emergency kit.
For counters, there is no better substitute for real miniatures than the BattleForce tokens from Strategic Operations. Check out PRI for some great downloads featuring all the colors of the major houses. Alternatively, BattleCorps will sell you the PDFs for around a dollar per faction. Cut out an assortment and glue them to some stiff cardboard for a cheap but effective token.
No matter what way you like to play you are never more than five minutes from a game if you are prepared.
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great ideas. thanks!
Also, if you are willing to sacrifice a little bit more space, use the small plastic mech figurines from the Introductory Box Set. They are much smaller than the Iron Wind pewters or Wiz Kids Mechwarrior figures. For a little bit more space, you can also use Introductory Box Set’s physical box instead of the envelope. The intro box can easily fit in a backpack, shoulder bag, or small piece of luggage.
What about maps? Any great links for somewhere to print them out?
Oo oo! I might suggest a blank, maybe laminated, map and a three markers (red/green/brown).
I’m sure the terrain templates would be a boon for this whenever they come out. (why not make some not though…)
“The intro box can easily fit in a backpack, shoulder bag, or small piece of luggage.”
No Doubt, I myself have an old messenger bag with the minimum (dice figs sheets) that resides in my trunk. The laptop always travels with me so books are a cinch.
Maps eh? Well there is always Heavy Metal Map. I have a few maps here at the ScrapYard too. Check out these posts.
http://www.scrapyardarmory.com/2008/12/24/scenario-anti-nick-comes-to-town/
http://www.scrapyardarmory.com/2008/12/14/deep-space-maps/
Thanks for all the input everyone!
This was a great idea.
I’m making two complete sets, so my son and I can each have one.
Plus, it nearly free for me: 4c a color page on heavy cardstock.
Kinkos does laminating, right?
[…] making on paper record sheets is required. At minimum the required materials for a small game can fit inside a manilla envelope, but can easily grow to fill a large suitcase or more. Playing the game requires at least a coffee […]