Cardboard Corner: Review of Battletech TCG

When the history of tabletop games is written, Richard Garfield is undoubtedly a name that will feature prominently. He is the designer of not one but several games that not only have stood the test of time but stand tall—which is saying a lot considering the flood of titles in the golden age of culture today. RoboRally, King of Tokyo, Android: Netrunner, Magic: The Gathering—these are games released decades ago that are still well known and played today. And there are games he designed which have fallen through the cracks. In the case of 1996's Battletech TCG, it is undeservingly so.

A card game based on the IP, Battletech TCG recreates the board game in streamlined fashion, all while displaying the theme which makes the concept unique: giant robot mechwarriors blasting it out. Technically playable by three, four, or more players, it's best at two, with games taking 30-45 minutes. Players build 60-card decks then square off. On their turn, a player deploys assets in order to construct mechwarriors, mechwarriors who are then deployed to attack their opponent's mechs and HQ, or to defend. The goal of the game is reduce the opponent's HQ (deck of cards) to zero. First player to do so, wins.

A level deeper, there are nuances which make Battletech TCG more thematic and interesting. The construction of mechs happens in production-line fashion. Low cost mechwarriors can be built quite quickly whereas high-cost mechs—the most powerful—require multiple rounds. Once completed, mechs do not immediately enter the battlefield; they wait til the end of the round, which means players must be conscious of which mechs are coming to the battlefield later and which can be used (exhausted) now for attack and defense.

The mechs themselves also have variety. While nothing compared to the board game, there nevertheless is enough detail to distinguish each. Each mech has an armor value (attacks that can be absorbed without permanent damage), structure value (damage that cannot be absorbed and will ultimately end in the mech's destruction once the limit has been reached), and attack value (how much damage a mech puts out). Each mech likewise has a speed: fast, moderate, and slow. The speeds dictate who can and cannot attack and when, e.g. a moderate speed mech can attack a slow mech but cannot attack a fast mech—which makes thematic sense.

Regarding attack—the meat of what many Battletech board game players enjoy, there are details worth mentioning. Some mechs can overheat (do themselves damage) in order to increase their base attack value. Some mechs can Alpha Strike, i.e. increase their base attack value at the cost of sitting out an extra turn. Some mechs also have missiles, an attack that is unblockable but is based on a die roll, and therefore can miss. And lastly, attacks happen simultaneously, meaning the defender(s) and attacker(s) resolve their damage output at the same time. Even weak mechs can get their shots off, something which the opponent must take into account when deciding to attack.

On top of building mechs and mech combat, the game also offers mission cards and enhancements. Enhancements come in the form of pilots (cards that attach to mechs and give them bonuses, e.g. +1 attack). Mission cards are essentially Event cards: one-time actions that effect combat or game-state. Played at the right moment, they can have huge impact. Importantly, they are unknown to the opponent until played. A silent threat in-hand, they force the player to look beyond battleground math and consider the other options their opponent has.

Battletech TCG has one main weakness, and it's the same as Magic: the randomness of card draw. It's possible for players to go multiple turns without drawing the assets they need to construct mechs. Or the opposite: to draw a lot of assets but few mechs. Either situation, which does happen, puts the player at a disadvantage if their opponent draws the cards they need to build a mech army. (If you do ever play Battletech TCG, I strongly recommend using the “dual stockpile rule”, a rule which allows players to keep a second, 12-card deck only for assets. These assets are still randomized, but the likelihood of drawing needed assets significantly increases, as does the likelihood of drawing mechs from the main deck—a win-win for fairness and fun.)

The game's other weakness is just a potential weakness, depending on the player's thematic expectations. Given the player's deck doubles as their health points, it means any hits on the HQ/deck discard potentially needed cards. Your opponent hits your deck for five and you throw away that many cards, including two of the mechs you could have used to fight back most effectively, for example. Of course you are doing the same to your opponent's deck, but there are certainly times that the player will feel they are being deprived of access to their best cards. (For players who are bothered by this, another house rule is possible: keep a separate health count (dice, pen-and-paper, whatever) to track 60 HQ points, that way all sixty cards are potentially available.

Getting Battletech TCG in 2023 is not an easy or cheap thing. Unless you get lucky and find someone on ebay selling starter sets for $20-$25 each, you can look to spend $50 or $60 just to have one playable deck. Whole card collections go for hundreds of dollars, sometimes more than a thousand if the seller knows there are rare cards being sold. An alternative is Redline. It's an expandable card game based on the idea of Battletech TCG (i.e. mechwarriors) but with its own IP. If Battletech is a 90s' TCG, then Redline is a 21st century game; resources are more consistent, upgrades are more satisfying, and battling for objectives adds an engaging layer of complexity. And in 2023, the price is much friendlier.

In the end, Battletech TCG does an effective job of giving players the feeling of building big battle robots and smashing them together in metal, missiles, and maneuver. Resource generation is an issue, but the game is clearly designed to be casual, something for you and a friend to set up and make shooty-laser noises as your Mad Cat Prime and Timber Wolf mechs stomp across the tabletop. It's not an easy game to find in 2023, but if you have a chance to play, do. It's fun. Otherwise, if the idea sounds interesting, check out Redline; similar idea but cheaper and more readily available.