Going beyond Battletech.

I love games that involve giant robots. My first real taste of giant robot combat was Battletech. I saw this cool ad in the back of several comic books for a game called “BattleDroids” and wanted to try it. Thankfully FASA survived. I went from Battletech the war game to Mechwarrior the roleplaying game.

Then I discovered this series called Robotech. I was new to anime and devoured every episode I could find across three series. Shortly afterward I discovered Robotech the RPG. Palladium also made this neat game called Rifts. It used giant robots and powered armor, too.

That satisfied my mecha addiction for a short time in college. I was heavy into Cyberpunk 2020 for a number of years. R Talsorian also made Mekton Zeta and Roadstriker. I also tried to incorporate the sourcebook Maximum Metal into Cyberpunk as much as I reasonably could.

Somewhere in there I also fell in love with Masamune Shirow’s Appleseed series. There was a game that used the landmate style mecha called Marauder 2107. It was a futuristic game where alien bioroids invaded Earth and it was the PCs job to save it. Fun game, but no longer in print or pdf. Well worth trying if you can find it.

In the decades since there have been a score of other mecha games that struck my fancy. Big Eyes, Small Mouth by Dyskami is a great game. It covers a lot of anime, not just mechs.  Chris Perrin’s Mecha is interesting. There’s a game called Beamswords and Bazookas that I highly recommend. There’s also the Mecha Hack which I have mentioned before. There’s also Dream Pod 9’s game, Heavy Gear which is making a huge comeback as a wargame and RPG.

I should also mention my current obsession with Power Rangers RPG. It’s the original 90s live action sentai giant robot series. We get a little superhero along with giant robot battles. No complaints here.

But why am I obsessed with giant robots?

In all honesty, it’s a bigtime power fantasy trip. You get to play a character piloting this massive machine capable of leveling buildings. Many times the game involves saving humanity from the jaws of alien beasties or aliens bent on conquering Earth.

There are also a lot of great character moments for what goes on outside the cockpit of the giant robots. I saw a game a few years ago that focused entirely on the humans between giant robot battles. The premise of the game was a soap opera that just happened to take place with mecha as a backdrop. I’ll have to see if I can find the name of it again sometime. Interesting idea, but not entirely my jam.

I find that once you get bitten by the mecha bug you will inevitably come back for more. I often lament how hard it is to find players for giant robot games. It seems like we’re a very small but dedicated fanbase. Yes, we’re out there. Now if we could just get together for a game.

This Mecha March I’m hoping to do a little Power Rangers action and talk about a few other things related to mecha gaming. I also still have an eye toward my own mecha game that’s a cross between Robotech and Star Trek: Voyager. I’m sort of holding out for D6 Second Edition, but I have an eye out for other systems/games that can do the job of setting up for a campaign.