BattleTech in TS

[RogerBW]

This has been a minor background element in my own TS game, and may become more significant if I ever run one set on Mars.

It seems to me that TS supports all the technology needed for recognisable BattleMechs: fusion power, neural interface, energy weapons, and armour. I don't off-hand know what the smallest canonical fusion-powered vehicle is, but in rules terms we're looking at SM+6 to +7 and that's not a problem for Spaceships (TL10 fusion reactors have no size limit).

Of course, they still make absolutely no sense as war machines. Everyone recognises that. In a world filled with smart missiles, drones, and nanoswarms, a 10-metre-tall walking tank is simply a great big target. But some of the older Martian Millionaires (sorry, Phil) remember a game they played back when they were kids - a wargame, a card game, a VR simulation - and now they have the money to play it for real.

So in my TS there is a BattleTech Re-Enactment Society on Mars - "it's no sillier than the SCA" - which devotes itself to formalised combat between giant fusion-powered robots with artificially short-ranged and high-heat weapons. They could be VR-piloted, but in that case you might as well just jack in to a simulation - honour insists that the warrior be present in the cockpit. Very few people get to see the fights in person, but sale of recordings goes some slight way to defray the massive costs involved. That said, it's still a wildly expensive and dangerous sport.