However there are a few problems owning a mech. It would damage the roads and stepping over a few cars would be unavoidable, to name a few. Therefore the next best thing to owning a Mech is to buy a Mechwarrior miniature and pretend to by a Mechwarrior, piloting a Mech.
Background Story
Mechwarrior is set in the Battletech universe. While Battletech is known as a board game, Wizkid's Mechwarrior: Dark Age is a miniature based game.
In the far future, in 31st century, humanity has already spread to thousands of planets, while a handful of powerful empires wage a continuous war for the right to rule the stars. The primary and most feared weapon used in the struggle are the Mechs. Armed with cannons, missiles, lasers, and charged-particle beam weapons, these 10-meter tall, fusion-powered bipedal steel war machines of articulated armor are piloted by Mechwarrior. The best, most intensively trained men and women available they resemble armored knight of ages long past. They are heroes, their exploits legendary.
Combat Dial
Wizkids has incorporated Mechwarrior into their landmark "Combat Dial" system (the same system as Heroclix and Mage Knight). Basically, rather than have paperwork for each miniature, the figures statistics and damage are all incorporated into a rotating dial on the base of the figure. The system itself is outstanding. The math is simple, the stats are easy to use, and it features the coolest damage recording ever.
However if you are a fun of the older Battletech board game, or the Mechwarrior RPG you will be shocked by the lack of detail and complexity. As a player you have no control over the offensive options, nor is there any customisability regarding your Mech payloads.
However once you get past the deviation from the other Mechwarrior games, you are left with a game, that although is a bit different, it is excellent fan as well. As a matter of fact, considering how long Battletech used to take in order to start playing, I can see some merits in Wizkid's simplicity. Battles in Mechwarrior: Dark age are short and uncomplicated, there is almost no paperwork to be done, records to be kept, or excessive calculating to find target numbers or heat. It also has a much shorter learning curve, which makes it much easier to involve casual non-wargamers.
So, all that being said I think it's a fun system but one that can only fill a very specific notch in my gaming life. It is fun, fast paced but it is also very expensive hobby, if you want to build a competitive force. You have to buy several booster in order to find the Mechs you really need (provided you are lucky).
Contents of the Starter Box
When you buy a Mechwarrior starter pack, you'll get one Mech, Four infantry units and two vehiclers. These are all randomly sorted, so you cannot be sure which Mech unit you will get exactly until you open the box. Also the starter set includes 3 6-sided dice, a flexible ruler in order to calculate distances a brief overview of the Mechwarrior timeline, an instruction book, and a special abilities card that tells you all the bonus things your units can do.
Concerns
Unfortunately the starter will not be enough for most players. It is called a Collectible Miniature game for a reason, after all. Like Magic the Gathering, you need to buy more starters or booster boxes. You can't really be very successful in a battle with only one Mech. You will also need to have a friend that has also invested a fair amount of money too in order to compete.
What also bothered me was the quality of the miniatures. The miniatures are pre-painted, which is very rare, and I really welcomed that, but also, they are made of plastic which means they are easily damaged. I opened a started box and one of my vehicles was a tank. It had a long cannon-barrel and it was dented. I had a friend whose miniature broke apart, but I am sure this is a rare occurance, and he easily glued both parts together.
Conclusion
If investing a great deal of money isn't a real issue, then this game is excellent. If investing a great deal of money is a problem though, then Mechwarrior: Dark Age is still an good choice that had a lot of potential of becoming something better.
