I just got my copy of the Davion force manual with my kickstarter. I haven't read through it in depth, but what I have skimmed I really like. If it is representative of the rest of the force manuals, I look forward to collecting, reading, and using them. Especially that of my favorite faction, house Steiner. Of course, while I may use them to add to factional aesthetic and fluff, even utilizing the rules, I will do so as I have with any of the old field manuals. The agnostic nature of the game is I believe of paramount importance and implementing factional rules aught be done lightly and with a loose hand only when all players think it a good and fun idea at a given time. Fortunately, it seems the writers of the manual are in agreement with that sentiment with both things like the statement you read and the proportions of rules compared to lore fluff.
@matthewpena3932 I unfortunately can't say that for certain as I don't own the previous book. I know when it was announced it seemed like it was meant to fill a similar role so you are likely correct. If I can get my hands on a copy of the other I will try to compare them.
@@geekcabal2599 I saw a post on the FB Everything Battletech about it. I have the old one via PDF and was going to order the new book thinking it was more than a reprint.
CGL has said the next Force Manual after Davion and Mercenaries is the Invading Clans (or Inner Sphere Clan) Force Manual. I assume that means Jade Falcon, Smoke Jaguar, Wolf, Ghost Bear, Nova Cat, Steel Viper, and Diamond Shark/Sea Fox. However; since all of these manuals will have PDF updates for IlClan era within the next 6 months, I don't know if they will add Snow Raven, Hell's Horses, and Goliath Scorpion to the Inner Sphere/Invading Clans Force Manual.
I thought I remembered them saying they were going to combine the Clans (or some of the Clans) into a single book but I couldn't recall where I heard that.
I like that it also includes the Rasalhague Republic but I’m just not sure how much extra money I want to sink into things that don’t impact the game versus just reading online for lore
In my opinion, from my quick flip through and reading a few parts here and there, I don't know if it is worth buying strictly for the lore. The impression that I get is that this book is for newer players to get a feel for the faction or for people coming from a game like Warhammer 40K where they are used to faction books. The crunch (game rules) part is fairly short compared to the rest. And to be clear, I skimmed it because the video is more a "here's the kinds of things to expect from these books in general" and less "here is exactly what is in this book" (that will come later once I read the whole thing). So more of an overview than an in depth review.
It is eeird how the new source books feel out of sync eith the novels snd lore. The iClan era is the current one but they are going to add a PDF later since it isn't in this book?
The PDF is what is being said on the forums, so it is a maybe. To your larger point, which I take to be "why doesn't this cover the current era?", there is a reason for that. The main box set, the starter set, and the main rules focus on 3025 (late Succession Wars era). Each era adds new mechs and technology. By the time you hit the IlClan you have added The Clan Invasion, The FedCom Civil War, The Word of Blake Jihad, and The Dark Age (maybe others). At each step they are likely losing players, similar to board games and expansions. So, they focus products like this on the first few eras because that covers the largest percentage of the fanbase (in theory).
That is in line with how the franchise has typically done things. These Force Manuals seem to be modernizations of the old Field Manuals. Back when those were published they made a series of field manuals for the then newest era, then did "update" manuals that noted the changes from the original manuals over time. I'd imagine the Force Manuals will follow a similar pattern if they sell well enough to justify successive releases. An initial run for all the major factions/groups of factions focusing on the setting's most popular eras (late succ war- civil war), followed by Force manual update(s) to note military evolutions in later eras.
Or for that matter, the old Field Manual series. The general answer is there is a lot of overlap between the three with some notable differences. The Field Manuals were the originals. They had a strong emphasis on the various combat commands of their eras. There was relatively little generalized lore for each factional military (relying on other sourcebooks for that), and no painting or miniature guidance (unless you count basic and sometimes vague statements about how commands painted their elements). They were also almost entirely greyscale. They had rules to make playing combat commands distinct on the tabletop, but these were only for classic as AS had not come out yet. They are as of now the most comprehensive covering every faction and updating them from the Civil War era up to 3145. The Combat Manuals were the next attempt at the basic concept, but poor sales and financial struggles resulted in only the Mercenaries and House Kurita editions being produced. This is naturally a major shortfall if you are interested in any other faction or group. These too focused primarily on individual combat commands. They added painting and miniature guidance. They were also in color, which I personally like because the colored unit heraldry is cool to me. They also added factional fluff rules for Alpha Strike. Lastly, the Force Manuals, the most recent attempt at this type of book. It is still being produced so while in theory it is planned that each of the major factions will get a release, only Davion and Kurita has and if sales do not hold up, the line may be pre-emptively canceled. Individual combat command fluff is abbreviated in favor of more overarching lore for a given faction's military. I believe the factional fluff rules are given in a more coherent and better organized fashion and accounts well for both Alpha Strike and Classic. There is also a very large section dedicated to mech and vehicle availability for force building. There is painting and miniature guidance and the books are in color. Is it worth getting all or any of these? Though I do like them all and am generally pleased with what I've read of the new Force Manuals, probably not. Personally I favor and recommend the Field Manual series out of them all. Though, that has it's issues as it it very Civil War+ centric, relying heavily on other sourcebooks such as the OG House Sourcebooks, 20 Year Update, ect. to fill in info up to the Civil War era. And amongst those sourcebooks and even the Field Manuals, finding the actual books can be difficult. For physical copies they have of course not been in print for some time and the expected difficulties in getting physical copies exist. Even digital copies are problematic with many entries only being available via drivethru RPG and even some entries such as Field Manual Lyran Alliance not being offered through ANY official distributors (though pdfs can of course be found via more dubious means).
@@melvinlemay7366wow thanks for that information as this series has been running for so long as I am relatively new to it it has been a mind job to figure out what books to get and what happened when, so videos like this are crucial to me and your reply also helped allot man I wish this reply would have been in Sarna 😂
Regarding rank structures and how they correlate to real life equivalents. It's not so much whether or not they were culturally sensitive. It's more that BT military ranks were in general very fictional. Every faction but the Lyrans had far too few enlisted and commissioned grades as compared to real life military organizations, and the Lyran's more realistic relative abundance was attributed to their nepotistic and self congratulatory military ineptitude. It's a matter akin to the early art. Many will look at the none white characters and attribute racial or cultural insensitivity or even outright bigotry. But if you compare the ethnically white characters, it reveals that such issues had more to do with consistently applied flaws in production quality than any such "problematic insensitivity".
What I meant was are the Japanese sounding rank designations actual words in Japanese, or are they just meant to sound like they are Japanese? And that likely being from the 80s, the odds of the latter are high. My personal stance, it was just me speculating out loud. I don't have any problem with it.
@@EverythingBattletech Thank you for the confirmation. I know some products try to be accurate and others just kind of wing it and wasn't sure which this was.
Mustard soldiers! Forward! Make their ketchup flow!
I just got my copy of the Davion force manual with my kickstarter. I haven't read through it in depth, but what I have skimmed I really like. If it is representative of the rest of the force manuals, I look forward to collecting, reading, and using them. Especially that of my favorite faction, house Steiner. Of course, while I may use them to add to factional aesthetic and fluff, even utilizing the rules, I will do so as I have with any of the old field manuals. The agnostic nature of the game is I believe of paramount importance and implementing factional rules aught be done lightly and with a loose hand only when all players think it a good and fun idea at a given time. Fortunately, it seems the writers of the manual are in agreement with that sentiment with both things like the statement you read and the proportions of rules compared to lore fluff.
I am going buy one next week.before those books will go up $$$$
So I saw that is was basically a reprint of the Combat Manual: Kurita. I own this in PDF and if that is the case I don't see a reason to but this.
@matthewpena3932 I unfortunately can't say that for certain as I don't own the previous book. I know when it was announced it seemed like it was meant to fill a similar role so you are likely correct.
If I can get my hands on a copy of the other I will try to compare them.
@@geekcabal2599 I saw a post on the FB Everything Battletech about it. I have the old one via PDF and was going to order the new book thinking it was more than a reprint.
my guess it's the same old one.i got that one to.
ill keep a eye open on these
CGL has said the next Force Manual after Davion and Mercenaries is the Invading Clans (or Inner Sphere Clan) Force Manual. I assume that means Jade Falcon, Smoke Jaguar, Wolf, Ghost Bear, Nova Cat, Steel Viper, and Diamond Shark/Sea Fox. However; since all of these manuals will have PDF updates for IlClan era within the next 6 months, I don't know if they will add Snow Raven, Hell's Horses, and Goliath Scorpion to the Inner Sphere/Invading Clans Force Manual.
I thought I remembered them saying they were going to combine the Clans (or some of the Clans) into a single book but I couldn't recall where I heard that.
I like that it also includes the Rasalhague Republic but I’m just not sure how much extra money I want to sink into things that don’t impact the game versus just reading online for lore
In my opinion, from my quick flip through and reading a few parts here and there, I don't know if it is worth buying strictly for the lore. The impression that I get is that this book is for newer players to get a feel for the faction or for people coming from a game like Warhammer 40K where they are used to faction books. The crunch (game rules) part is fairly short compared to the rest.
And to be clear, I skimmed it because the video is more a "here's the kinds of things to expect from these books in general" and less "here is exactly what is in this book" (that will come later once I read the whole thing). So more of an overview than an in depth review.
It is eeird how the new source books feel out of sync eith the novels snd lore. The iClan era is the current one but they are going to add a PDF later since it isn't in this book?
The PDF is what is being said on the forums, so it is a maybe.
To your larger point, which I take to be "why doesn't this cover the current era?", there is a reason for that. The main box set, the starter set, and the main rules focus on 3025 (late Succession Wars era). Each era adds new mechs and technology. By the time you hit the IlClan you have added The Clan Invasion, The FedCom Civil War, The Word of Blake Jihad, and The Dark Age (maybe others). At each step they are likely losing players, similar to board games and expansions.
So, they focus products like this on the first few eras because that covers the largest percentage of the fanbase (in theory).
That is in line with how the franchise has typically done things. These Force Manuals seem to be modernizations of the old Field Manuals. Back when those were published they made a series of field manuals for the then newest era, then did "update" manuals that noted the changes from the original manuals over time. I'd imagine the Force Manuals will follow a similar pattern if they sell well enough to justify successive releases. An initial run for all the major factions/groups of factions focusing on the setting's most popular eras (late succ war- civil war), followed by Force manual update(s) to note military evolutions in later eras.
I just came back and realized how bad my spelling was. I'm going to blame the tiny phone screen since I wasn't even drunk at the time 😅
@@RecklessFables It happens. I try to avoid using my phone for long comments.
how is this different from the combat manual house kurita
Or for that matter, the old Field Manual series. The general answer is there is a lot of overlap between the three with some notable differences.
The Field Manuals were the originals. They had a strong emphasis on the various combat commands of their eras. There was relatively little generalized lore for each factional military (relying on other sourcebooks for that), and no painting or miniature guidance (unless you count basic and sometimes vague statements about how commands painted their elements). They were also almost entirely greyscale. They had rules to make playing combat commands distinct on the tabletop, but these were only for classic as AS had not come out yet. They are as of now the most comprehensive covering every faction and updating them from the Civil War era up to 3145.
The Combat Manuals were the next attempt at the basic concept, but poor sales and financial struggles resulted in only the Mercenaries and House Kurita editions being produced. This is naturally a major shortfall if you are interested in any other faction or group. These too focused primarily on individual combat commands. They added painting and miniature guidance. They were also in color, which I personally like because the colored unit heraldry is cool to me. They also added factional fluff rules for Alpha Strike.
Lastly, the Force Manuals, the most recent attempt at this type of book. It is still being produced so while in theory it is planned that each of the major factions will get a release, only Davion and Kurita has and if sales do not hold up, the line may be pre-emptively canceled. Individual combat command fluff is abbreviated in favor of more overarching lore for a given faction's military. I believe the factional fluff rules are given in a more coherent and better organized fashion and accounts well for both Alpha Strike and Classic. There is also a very large section dedicated to mech and vehicle availability for force building. There is painting and miniature guidance and the books are in color.
Is it worth getting all or any of these? Though I do like them all and am generally pleased with what I've read of the new Force Manuals, probably not. Personally I favor and recommend the Field Manual series out of them all. Though, that has it's issues as it it very Civil War+ centric, relying heavily on other sourcebooks such as the OG House Sourcebooks, 20 Year Update, ect. to fill in info up to the Civil War era. And amongst those sourcebooks and even the Field Manuals, finding the actual books can be difficult. For physical copies they have of course not been in print for some time and the expected difficulties in getting physical copies exist. Even digital copies are problematic with many entries only being available via drivethru RPG and even some entries such as Field Manual Lyran Alliance not being offered through ANY official distributors (though pdfs can of course be found via more dubious means).
@@melvinlemay7366wow thanks for that information as this series has been running for so long as I am relatively new to it it has been a mind job to figure out what books to get and what happened when, so videos like this are crucial to me and your reply also helped allot man I wish this reply would have been in Sarna 😂
@@melvinlemay7366 I appreciate your response. I do not have a lot of experience with a lot of the older material.
Regarding rank structures and how they correlate to real life equivalents. It's not so much whether or not they were culturally sensitive. It's more that BT military ranks were in general very fictional. Every faction but the Lyrans had far too few enlisted and commissioned grades as compared to real life military organizations, and the Lyran's more realistic relative abundance was attributed to their nepotistic and self congratulatory military ineptitude. It's a matter akin to the early art. Many will look at the none white characters and attribute racial or cultural insensitivity or even outright bigotry. But if you compare the ethnically white characters, it reveals that such issues had more to do with consistently applied flaws in production quality than any such "problematic insensitivity".
What I meant was are the Japanese sounding rank designations actual words in Japanese, or are they just meant to sound like they are Japanese? And that likely being from the 80s, the odds of the latter are high.
My personal stance, it was just me speculating out loud. I don't have any problem with it.
They are actual words, All of them are ranks from previous wars and leaderships
In Japanese Battletech, it's the same Ranks
@@EverythingBattletech Thank you for the confirmation. I know some products try to be accurate and others just kind of wing it and wasn't sure which this was.
@@EverythingBattletech Very interesting.
Lance company battalion regiment
Lots of errors in this book. Grammatical and other.
@markcalhoun9480 I'll have to keep an eye out for those when I do the close read through
I’ve noticed that in other recent CGL books. “A question of survival” has plenty of grammatical errors for a novel.
That's in line with other releases. CGL's editorial team is STRUGGLING.