History TabletopGame / Battletech

* MotionCaptureMecha: Partially. Mechs with hands may have waldoes in the cockpit that the pilot inserts his meaty arm into to control the giant mech arm with, for use in situations requiring delicate work that the computer will probably botch up. Elementals use hand signs to trigger their weapons - folding their ring finger and pinky, and laying their thumb over it to fire their arm mounted laser.

* StandardSciFiHistory: Set during the Interregnum following the collapse of the Star League.

For three centuries, the five self proclaimed Successor States along with numerous minor powers fought for dominance, transforming the Inner Sphere into quasi-feudal society, while the Earth-based semi-religious organization known as ComStar, formed by the remains of Star League’s Department of Communications, observed this for their own agenda (Having a monopoly on the only means of interstellar communications helps). During these three centuries of total war, humankind lost a considerable amount of knowledge, now called Lost Tech, almost descending into dark ages. Only a discovery of the Star League Field Library Memory Core prevented that.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Battletech_3050_Atlas_resized_8459.jpg
[[caption-width:365: The ''[[MeaningfulName Atlas]]'': in the words of General Kerensky, "a 'Mech [[MightyGlacier as powerful as possible, as impenetrable as possible]], and as ugly and foreboding as conceivable, so that fear itself will be our ally."]]

One of the first western attempts to convert HumongousMecha into a tabletop wargame, originally created by FASA, transferred to [=WizKids=] LLC in 2000 and bought by Topps along with the entirety of [=WizKids=] LLC in June 2003. [[CatalystGameLabs Catalyst Game Labs]] developed Battletech under a license obtained from [=WizKids=] before Topps shut that company down in November 2008.

Humankind has set off into the galaxy, colonizing planets in a wide area radiating from the Earth, an area known as the Inner Sphere. This whole region was dominated by a feudal empire called the Star League, until an EvilChancellor killed the ruler and took power for himself. The Star League Defense Force (SLDF) turned on the usurper and defeated him, only for the remaining noble families of the Star League to start fighting each other over the right to succeed to the throne. In disgust, general Aleksandr Kerensky of the SLDF took his whole army and departed into unknown space, leaving the nobles to fight out their differences in devastating wars.

Three centuries later the descendants of the SLDF, now calling themselves "The Clans," launched a Blitzkrieg invasion of the Inner Sphere. Their intent was to end the still-ongoing Succession Wars by force. The invasion was eventually halted, but not before the Clans carved a huge chunk of territory out of the Inner Sphere.

* MamaBear: The aptly named Clan Ghost Bear (the actual animal is also known to display this type of behavior) is fiercely protective of its civilian castes. When the Word of Blake decided to detonate neutron bombs on a few of their city they dumped the usual Clan [[HonorBeforeReason restrictions]] on mass battles and orbital bombardment. They proceeded to savage several elite Word units and almost single handily turned the Combine front of the Jihad around.

** BiggerIsBetter: Explicitly mentioned in the Heavy Gauss Rifle's description in [=MechWarrior 4=]. ("Built around the concept that bigger is better, [...]")

* AlphaStrike: One of the first to use the trope. Step one: fire every weapon you have, simultaneously. Step two: wait to see if you ''explode'', or merely overheat.

* MamaBear/PapaWolf: The aptly named Clan Ghost Bear (the actual animal is also known to display this type of behavior) is fiercely protective of its civilian castes. When the Word of Blake decided to detonate neutron bombs on a few of their city they dumped the usual Clan [[HonorBeforeReason restrictions]] on mass battles and orbital bombardment. They proceeded to savage several elite Word units and almost single handily turned the Combine front of the Jihad around.

** The Clan homeworlds are at best considered sub optimal. Resources are in short supply, leading to wastefulness being a cardinal sin in Clan society. Many of the original SLDF exiles also contracted diseases in the early years. The Clans are also named for actual animals native (or modified and introduced) to their worlds, and these (which include lovely critters such as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Steel Vipers, Ghost Bears and Smoke Jaguars]]) are often more dangerous than the SuperSoldiers than took their names.

*** Add the [[SuperMode Triple Strength Myomer boost]] to the battlemech kick and you pretty much can remove the legs from any foe who lighter then you and even some of the same weight class if they skimp on leg armor in one kick and against a downed foe results in some pretty brutal curb stomps and ''that's'' before you add the experimental Talon weapons for boosting kick damage.

*** Add the [[SuperMode Triple Strength Myomer boost]] to the battlemech kick and you pretty much can remove the legs from any foe who lighter then you and even some of the same weight class if they skimp on leg armor in one kick and against a downed foe results in some pretty brutal curb stomps and ''that's'' before you add the experemental Talon weapons for boosting kick damage.

*** Add the [[SuperMode Triple Strength Myomer boost]] to the battlemech kick and you pretty much can remove the legs from any foe who lighter then you and even some of the same weight class if they skimp on leg armor in one kick and against a downed foe results in some pretty brutal curb stomps.

** Add the [[SuperMode Triple Strength Myomer boost]] to the battlemech kick and you pretty much can remove the legs from any foe who lighter then you and even some of the same weight class if they skimp on leg armor in one kick and against a downed foe results in some pretty brutal curb stomps.

* [[SlapOnTheWristNuke Slap on the wrist WMDs]]: played straight gameplay wise for balance reasons but in-universe averted to high hell using nukes or just about any Weapons of mass destriction is the quickest way to get everyone to stop shooting each other and start shooting at you.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: CD-ROMs are still sometimes used, over a thousand years after their invention.