Welcome to The Inner Sphere and The Battletech Universe.

Why I love The Battletech Universe?

Well, welcome to the Inner Sphere and The Battletech Universe. Why do I love the Battletech Universe? Maybe it’s because it checks all the boxes for my inner nerdy teenager. In the 1990s, when I was a teenager, I saw some of my friends who were older than me playing it. It looked like a game using Robotech machines. I was way wrong, but there was a lawsuit about that.

Military Science Fiction.

As a writer, a Fantasy and Science Fiction, one of the fun things to get into world building. As a reader, it’s equally fun to be immersed in a world that feels just as real as your own. When you are willing suspending your disbelief, that is when the magic happens. There are countless Battletech novels to help you with that. But the fictional history and the combined Military Science Fiction of the Battletech Universe make for a Universe you can get lost in.

Honestly, I find the tabletop strategy game addictive as smoking cigars or having sex. As soon as I am finished, I want to do it all over again.

What the hell is a Mech?

I should probably stop here in my description of the Inner Sphere and the Battletech Universe, because if you don’t know what a Mech or Battle-Mech is, then you will be lost.

Civilized Warfare… yeah right.

After the Aries convention, humanity outlawed the use of nukes and declared civilized war and with ground and air and sea units only. Then they discovered the Battle-Mech, the pinnacle of modern warfare. A battle mech is a 20-100 ton piloted, skull stomping robot, usually equipped with advanced weapons that can easily take out heavy tanks and infantry.

A mech is a giant stompy robot. – Tex

Mechwarriors, the human pilots who control battle mechs from the inside, are like gladiators and knights of the future. Modern war has brought humanity back to the days of feudalism.

Not just a game or a book series. Welcome to the Inner Sphere and the Battletech Universe.

Do you think Battletech is some kind of game? This is not just a game! Welcome to the Inner Sphere and the Battletech Universe. It’s not just a game like monopoly or scrabble, it is a game system you can play on your PC or tabletop, with enough book series to rival Dungeons and Dragons.

This means that you can immerse yourself in the lore and technology and history of the Battletech Universe and choose a faction to best play as.

Who are the Primary actors in the Universe?

So welcome to G#$%@*8M Inner Sphere and the Battletech Universe! Who are the primary trouble makers heros and villains? After humans learned how to travel and explore and colonize deep space, five great Houses emerged as political and military leaders and factions. These houses are like Nation States that comprise hundreds of planets and star systems each.

At one time, a great Star League united them, but through treachery, the Star League was weakened and disbanded. There are other smaller Houses but the five great Houses who have spent hundreds if not thousands of years warning against each other are:

The Great Houses of The Inner Sphere.

The Lyran Commonwealth, House Steiner.

Descendants of German and Scottish ancestry and one of the richest merchant house in the Inner Sphere. They often win their battles by just throwing more weapons and ammunition at their enemy. They are not known for their military geniuses, with a few exceptions.

The Draconis Combine, House Kurita.

The Draconis Combine, House Kurita are descendants of the Japanese Samuri clans and live by strict Bushido code. They are ruled by the Coordinator of the Draconis combine, a dictator whose word is law and can have anyone killed for any reason at all.

The Federated Suns, House Davion.

The Federated Suns, House Davion, are mostly a freedom loving government fighting The Draconis combine and the Capellan Confederation.

The Capellan Confederation, House Lao

The Capellan Confederation, House Lao, is a police state that lets’s the people prove their worthiness to become citizens or live as non-citizen slaves. They don’t obey any faction of military law but will do whatever they can to kill their enemies.

Never trust a Capellan.
Literally everyone else in the Inner Sphere.

The Free Worlds League, House Marek

A democracy made up of many free states but in times of war, which has been forever and almost always, the Merick family rules the government and it’s people under martial law.But the fun doesn’t stop there…

Comstar

You also have ComStar. A neutral company that manages interstellar communications through their exclusive knowledge of hyperspace generators. They are a secretive organization as shady as the CIA. They worship their founder like a cult leader and they said to be as powerful or more powerful than the five great Houses. Sinister or savior, you decide.And did I mention the Clans…

The Clans.

The Clans.They came from deep space. They are the remnants of Star League and they are crazy warrior cast-system that live for combat and a warrior’s death. There are too many factions to mention or to cover in this blog post. But let me say they are many and different and they come packing with lost tech and advanced weapons and mechs! They are a force to be reckoned with. They think it is their birthright to reconquer Tera (Earth).I almost forgot another important faction you can play as.

Mercenaries.

Mercenaries.Mercenary Mech Companies have been selling their gun for hire for years in the Inner Sphere as the great Houses do not always engage in straight open conflict but can hire well equipped Merc Companies to do their bidding for C-Bills!

“Death to all Mercenaries!”
– The Draconis Combine.

Mercs range from a variety of larger companies that are like small countries in themselves or small one lance startup. either way, they are death-dealers for hire. Notable Mercenary companies are THe Wolf’s Dragoons and The Gray Death Legion to name just a few.

An intricate History.

Fans of The Battletech Universe have created YouTube channels to go with the books and dramatized the timeline of The History of the Inner Sphere and Battletech.

If you are interested in playing the tabletop game, you are going to want to know what time period you are playing in because of the changes in technology. In many eras of Battletech, technology has been lost because of centuries of wars. And at other times as there were breakthroughs in technology like after the Clang Invasion.

Here is the first timeline to consider:

But the timeline doesn’t stop there, but for brevity, let me leave it right there.