History Trivia / Battletech

** PBI - Poor Bloody Infantry, an unfortunately true turn of phrase to describe common infantry in a battlefield full of armored vehicles and huge battlemechs with intimidatingly large weapons.

!!The Tabletop Game:

!!The Cartoon
* DuelingShows: With ''WesternAnimation/{{Exosquad}}''; that show handily won the duel.
** The conflict between the two was, in fact a major part of FASA's decision to retire the "Unseen" mechs in the 90s. One of the [[AMechByAnyOtherName Exo-Frames]] was clearly a rip-off of the Madcat but when FASA tried to sue for copyright infringement, Playmates brought in the hated Harmony Gold to launch a countersuit since they had a contract to produce toys under the ''Robotech'' brand. While Harmony Gold's case was revealed to be shaky and they eventually agreed to a settlement, it was enough to convince the company that using the old designs just wasn't worth the trouble.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The series was never released on VHS, let alone DVD or streaming (considering the acquisition of the Creator/SabanEntertainment library by Creator/{{Disney}} in 2001, it's likely never going to see a proper release). Episodes can be found online, but all that's available are poor-quality rips of home tapings.
* SimilarlyNamedWorks: There was an earlier game called Battletech, an isometric-view game for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis with gameplay similar to the VideoGame/StrikeSeries. It was later ported to the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem under the title ''Mechwarrior 3050''.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Thanks to some very heavy [=SNAFUs=] with the licensing, several of the original [=BattleMechs=] (based off of 'Mechs from various Japanese anime and manga, most prominently ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'') are now considered [[ExiledFromContinuity Unseen]]. Many of the designs made their way back into the canon, now sufficiently redesigned that the lawyers wouldn't pick fights over them... and then Harmony Gold, the original inciters of the litigations, went after them again ''anyway'', resulting in more unsee-ing in some works out of an abundance of caution. [[http://www.sarna.net/news/update-on-the-harmony-gold-lawsuit/ Finally stopped in 2017]]: ''VideoGame/MechWarriorOnline'' developer Piranha Games successfully argued in court that Tatsunoko never owned the IP they licensed to Harmony Gold, getting the claim dismissed with prejudice, and ''VideoGame/BattleTech'''s Paradox and Harebrained Schemes [[http://www.sarna.net/news/harmony-golds-case-against-harebrained-schemes-dismissed/ won a similar judgement]] in 2018, [[https://bg.battletech.com/news/statement-from-catalyst-game-labs-on-conclusion-of-harmony-gold-legal-action/ effectively ending Harmony Gold's vendetta against the franchise for good.]] See the accompanying page for the full, ugly story.

** Headcapping - taking a mech by destroying the head/cockpit or scoring a lethal crit on the pilot.
** Headcapper - a weapon suited for such hits - most commonly a AC/20, Clan ER PPC, or Gauss weapon, but anything that can one-shot a mech with a lucky head crit may be referred to as such especially if a player is skilled enough to keep landing headshots.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page In full effect.]]

* TropeNamers: AlphaStrike and SpheroidDropship

!!The Video Game:
* ShoutOut:
** One of Glitch's possible barks when executing a "Death From Above"-move is [[Radio/TheFrantics "BOOT TO THE HEAD!"]]
*** Another, which appears when you target multiple opponents is [[Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow You get a headshot, and YOU get a headshot! ]]
** Medusa, meanwhile, gets "[[Film/FullMetalJacket SHOW ME YOUR WAR FACE!]] as one of theirs.
** Alexander mentions having spent time in exile on a planet called [[Series/BabylonFive Zathras.]]

* NamesTheSame: There was an earlier game called Battletech, an isometric-view game for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis with gameplay similar to the VideoGame/StrikeSeries. It was later ported to the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem under the title ''Mechwarrior 3050''.

** Headchopping - taking a mech by a solid hit to the head/cockpit, scoring a lethal crit on the pilot.
** Headchopper - a weapon suited for such hits - most commonly a AC/20, Clan ER PPC, or Gauss weapon, but anything that can one-shot a mech with a lucky head crit may be referred to as such especially if a player is skilled enough to keep landing headshots.

** Poptart - a Jumpjet-based tactic of jumping just high enough to peek over the top of hills just long enough to open fire and then drop down before return fire can hit you. Under certain circumstances this tactic can be used to provide sighting for lancemates.[[note]]Mostly used in the ''[=MechWarior=]'' games, as the turn-based tabletop game makes this impossible.[[/note]]
** Torso Twist - A defensive move used against laser weapons in Mechwarrior Online in particular, but also mentioned in the fluff. Turning your torso in just the right way at the right time can prevent laser weaponry from burning a clean hole through your armor, by forcing the beam to sweep less dangerously across the armor and leaving a shallow furrow in the armor rather than penetrating it entirely due to focusing on a single point. Pulse Lasers are much harder to Torso Twist against due to their behavior.[[note]]Mostly used in the ''[=MechWarrior=]'' games; on the table top, a torso-twist does not affect how your 'Mech's facing is calculated for incoming damage. That said, controlling your facing to present thicker[=/=]less damaged armor to your opponent's is a common tactic.[[/note]]

** Missile Boat - a common term for any mech configured for SRM and LRM spamming.

** Laser Vomit - the ''Mechwarrior Online'' version of a Flashbulb mech.
** Disco - A term used to refer to 'mechs running lots of pulse lasers, which has a strobe-like effect when multiple are fired at once in games like ''Mechwarrior Online''.

** Ghost Heat - A balancing mechanic in ''Mechwarrior Online'' where firing too many of the same kind of weapon at once will cause abnormally large amounts of heat buildup to dissuade players from relying exclusively on any single kind of weapon.
** Bugmech - A common moniker applied to a number of light mechs and fast mediums (like the Cicada, Locust, Stinger, Wasp, and Flea), which are all {{Fragile Speedster}}s and have insect-themed names. Amusingly, the Grasshopper isn't quite a bugmech because it's a fast ''Heavy'' mech and is thus a tad overweight to be considered one of them (and likewise, the Crab is a Medium zombiemech and the King Crab is a 100 tonner Assault).

** Shield Arm - A common mech customization tactic of having one arm free of critical subsystems, so you can use it as a buffer against attacks by angling your mech to take hits there. The basic ''Centurion'' is one of the most famous examples of this, having a massive [=AC/10=] in its right arm and nothing at all in its left. The ''[=MechWarrior Online=]'' design of the ''Centurion'' even gives the forearm of the left arm flared metal plates, evoking a shield, just to drive the point home.
** Zombiemech - Battlemechs designed to keep most of their fighting ability even after taking greiveous damage. Usually done using energy-heavy weapons load-outs (to avoid ammo explosions), stacking the heaviest weapons in the better-armored torsos instead of the more-vulnerable arms, filling out the remainder of the torso with disposable components like Heat Sinks to absorb critical hits, and using Standard or Compact engines instead of Light and Xtra-Light engines (larger, lighter engines are more vulnerable to critical hits, and can mission-kill the 'Mech with enough side torso damage). As with a classical Zombie, the only way to quickly put one down is to shoot it in the head(and if they have a torso-mounted cockpit, even that won't work!). 'Mechs like the Crab, Marauder 3D (which ditches all the ammo-based weapons for lasers), and the Roughneck are infamous for their durability, and their Structural bonus quirks in Mechwarrior Online only serves to emphasize this.

** "Spooky Atlas" - an Atlas refitted with Stealth Armor (and ECM) and given a skeleton paintjob. Invented by MWO mechwarrior theB33f, the Spooky Atlas is basically a tech-based Phantom Mech in its playstyle - you sneak up behind an enemy with your Stealth Armor active and hold your fire until they turn and see you up in their face. Boo.
** "Lurm" - an affectionate meme name for the LRM missile system courtesy of the MWO playerbase.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The reason why the Eridani Light Horse mercenaries were killed off, and in really gruesome way for that matter (Left to die in the in the crossfire of two clans). The longer version: Someone wrote a fic about the ELH backstory, and due to various circumstances, that fic was canonized by accident without paying the author. The fanfic writer sued, and the case would go on and off for nearly a decade until the developers, already wary after the Unseen debacle, decided it was not worth it and got rid of ELH. And while they were gotten rid of in the [=3060s=] timeframe, even newer 3025-era products avoid more than token mentions of them.

** Flashbulb - a 'mech built with an all-energy setup, with no ammo-using weapons whatsoever.

** Here's a fun drinking game: Go to the official Battletech forums. Search for "ilClan." Take a shot every time a post asking what the progress on it is appears. Since this is a book that's been awaited for ''years'', you may need to stop, either voluntarily or involuntarily after a short while. This may finally be subsiding as WordOfGod says that the reason for the delay is they're still trying to tie up loose ends and come up with a new, post-''ilClan'' metaplot to avoid the deadly question "AndThenWhat". Eventually, the delay got so long they decided to split it into two parts, with the first part becoming the ''Shattered Fortress'' which was released on August 2018 and the planned second part retaining the ''ilClan'' name. Finally, starting from mid-2020, "Recognition Guides" for the ilClan era were published (containing info on new 'Mech designs, as well as new variants of old ones), and on New Year's Day 2021, the book which officially moved the game into the ilClan era (warning: {{Spoiler Title}}), [[spoiler:''Hour of the Wolf'']] was published. And rhen finally, at long last, on August 6, 2021, ''The Ilclan'' was finally published, putting an end to years of waiting.

** Here's a fun drinking game: Go to the official Battletech forums. Search for "ilClan." Take a shot every time a post asking what the progress on it is appears. Since this is a book that's been awaited for ''years'', you may need to stop, either voluntarily or involuntarily after a short while. This may finally be subsiding as WordOfGod says that the reason for the delay is they're still trying to tie up loose ends and come up with a new, post-''ilClan'' metaplot to avoid the deadly question "AndThenWhat". Eventually, the delay got so long they decided to split it into two parts, with the first part becoming the ''Shattered Fortress'' which was released on August 2018 and the planned second part retaining the ''ilClan'' name. Finally, starting from mid-2020, "Recognition Guides" for the ilClan era were published (containing info on new 'Mech designs, as well as new variants of old ones), and on New Year's Day 2021, the book which officially moved the game into the ilClan era (warning: {{Spoiler Title}}), [[spoiler:''Hour of the Wolf'']] was published.

** Ammo Bomb - a 3025 'mech with a side/center torso-mounted ammo store with too very few other subsystems in the same section to absorb hits, rendering the ammo highly vunerable to critical hits that would result in deadly ammo explosions (Ammo explosions deal damage equal to the remaining unused munitions in the section struck by a critical hit, so a ton of machine gun ammo would go up like a cluster bomb due to all the bullets cooking off, for example). Among the infamously vunerable mechs include the Marauder 3R, which has only got crit slots for the AC/5 ammunition inside its side torso and nothing else, thus making crits to that section once armor is stripped (or a player lands a lucky Golden BB style Through-Armor Crit) extremely deadly. CASE technology made this phenomenon much less deadly, but ammo explosions remain a dangerous threat to a mech anyway since it will still destroy the affected section of the mech.

** Zombiemech - a battlemech designed such that it can retain a large portion of its fighting ability despite taking grieveous amounts of damage, by using only- or mostly energy weapons(no ammunition explosions), putting weapons and heatsinks inside both side and center torsos as well as the head and legs in such a way that component loss would not suddenly cripple its entire ability to fight, and using Standard or Compact engines instead of Light and Xtra-Light engines (XL engines are mission-killed if the side torso structure of a mech is totaled, and Light Engines suffer a heat performance penalty when you lose one side torso section). So, much like the stereotypical Zombie, the only way to quickly put one down is to shoot it in the head(and if they have a torso-mounted cockpit, even that won't work!). 'Mechs like the Crab, Marauder 3D (which ditches all the ammo-based weapons for lasers), and the Roughneck are infamous for being such a kind of immensely durable mech, and their Structural bonus quirks in Mechwarrior Online only serves to emphasize this.

** Here's a fun drinking game: Go to the official Battletech forums. Search for "ilClan." Take a shot every time a post asking what the progress on it is appears. Since this is a book that's been awaited for ''years'', you may need to stop, either voluntarily or involuntarily after a short while. This may finally be subsiding as WordOfGod says that the reason for the delay is they're still trying to tie up loose ends and come up with a new, post-''ilClan'' metaplot to avoid the deadly question "AndThenWhat". Eventually, the delay got so long they decided to split it into two parts, with the first part becoming the ''Shattered Fortress'' which was released on August 2018 and the planned second part retaining the ''ilClan'' name.

** Shield Arm - A common mech customization tactic of having one arm free of critical subsystems, so you can use it as a buffer against attacks by angling your mech to take hits there.

** Peeking - a very common defensive tactic of only exposing just the arm (and/or side torso) of your mech briefly so that you can fire at the enemy with as small an exposed profile as possible to minimise damage from return fire.
** Poptart - a Jumpjet-based tactic of jumping just high enough to peek over the top of hills just long enough to open fire and then drop down before return fire can hit you. Under certain circumstances this tactic can be used to provide sighting for lancemates.
** Torso Twist - A defensive move used against laser weapons in Mechwarrior Online in particular, but also mentioned in the fluff. Turning your torso in just the right way at the right time can prevent laser weaponry from burning a clean hole through your armor, by forcing the beam to sweep less dangerously across the armor and leaving a shallow furrow in the armor rather than penetrating it entirely due to focusing on a single point. Pulse Lasers are much harder to Torso Twist against due to their behavior.

** One of the barks possible when executing a "Death From Above"-move is [[Radio/TheFrantics "BOOT TO THE HEAD!"]]
** Another, which appears when you target multiple opponents is [[Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow You get a headshot, and YOU get a headshot! ]]