Around the Inner Sphere

BattleTech is one of the first tabletop wargames that I ever played. I got a copy of the 3rd edition of the boxed set as a gift and loved the game. I painted some of the miniatures and played the game for years with my brother and other kids in my boy scout troop. Shortly after the game’s timeline reached 3060, I ended up playing less often and not staying up-to-date with the game.

Over the years since then, I’ve picked up other books and played the occasional games. I picked up new Technical Readouts and bought the new line of Total Warfare core rulebooks. Several years ago, I got a copy of the BattleTech Introductory Box Set. It wasn’t until late 2020 that I finally started painting those mechs though.

The version of the box I have, the 2013 edition, came with twenty-six miniatures. One of those was a Timber Wolf, but the rest are classic mechs from the Inner Sphere. I decided to divvy them up between different factions rather than just painting them all with the same scheme.

I spent some time figuring out which mechs to give each faction and which unit colors to use for each. I wanted to end up with forces that covered the range of mech sizes and had mechs that were good matches for the factions. I also wanted to get color schemes that were as iconic as possible for the nation as a whole.

Free Worlds Guard

For House Marik’s Free Worlds League, I decided on the Free Worlds Guard. They are a unit that serves the League as a whole rather than a particular member state, and their color scheme of white and purple seemed like a great choice.

I knew that I wanted the Awesome, Trebuchet, and Hermes II assigned to the Free Worlds League since they are iconic mechs for the faction. Then I decided to fill out the set with the Cyclops and Assassin.

Lyran Guards

For House Steiner’s Lyran Commonwealth, I decided to go with the Lyran Guards. I liked their blue color scheme with the white stripe.

The Banshee, Zeus, Commando, and Hunchback were assigned to House Steiner in my first pass. Then I wanted another heavy or assault mech to go with the theme of Lyran’s loving the heaviest mechs. The Quickdraw ended up filling that slot as I assigned out the remaining mechs.

Sword of Light

The Sword of Light’s red mechs are iconic for the Draconis Combine, so I knew they’d be my unit choice for House Kurita.

The Dragon, Whitworth, Jenner, and Panther are all strongly linked to the Draconis Combine in my mind, so they were the first choices for the force. Then because they hadn’t gotten an assault mech, I gave them the Atlas. The Dragon is on the light side of the heavy range, so I thought it was appropriate to give them the biggest mech in the set.

Davion Brigade of Guards

I had a harder time deciding on which unit to use for House Davion. I ended up settling on the red, white, and blue colors of the Davion Brigade of Guards.

I knew I wanted the Enforcer, Dervish, and BattleMaster assigned to House Davion. I initially considered giving the JagerMech to House Liao, but pulled it back to House Davion after deciding it just felt wrong to have it anywhere else. Then, as I worked through the remaining mechs, I ended up giving the Clint to them.

Warrior House Imarra

For House Liao, I wanted to go with a unit with green in the color scheme. After browsing different unit options a bit, I settled on Warrior House Imarra’s ivory and green.

I knew House Liao would get the Catapult and Vindicator. Beyond that I wasn’t sure what else to give them. I eventually settled on the Cicada, Spider, and Grasshopper.

Clan Smoke Jaguar Alpha Galaxy

For the lone clan mech in the box, I was initially planning to pick a Clan Wolf unit. Then as I finished up the other mechs, I changed my mind and decided to go with the “bad guy” Clan of the initial four, Smoke Jaguar. Once I picked to go that route, I decided on Alpha Galaxy’s grey paint scheme with jaguar spots. I’m really happy with how it turned out.