Farewell to FASA

I have always had a strange relationship with FASA.  It seems like they were always there, and that they were constantly reminding me of that fact, and yet for the longest time I never managed to get into any of their games.

Back in the days of old...

My first run in with FASA and BattleTech was back in the days when the 2nd edition of BattleTech was still new.  Like many others I was introduced to it through a friend.  He brought it over to my house and we managed to play one game amongst everything else we did that weekend.  We occasionally loaned each other games, and the 2nd edition managed to stay with me.  I read through the basic rules and then read through all the sidebars filled with universe background.  I found those sidebars very interesting.  Unlike many of these kinds of  stories though, all of this wasn't what got me into BattleTech.  Actually, it ended up on my shelf with many other games, and was soon forgotten....

During the next few years, I saw a couple of ads for BattleTech stuff in Dragon Magazine, including one for the novel "Heir to the Dragon" whose story sounded interesting, and had a pretty nifty cover (the original one, not the new one with the Mechs on it).  I had thought that I might buy it, but I never did get around to it.  And so ended my second brief brush with BattleTech...

The era of the Computer Games...

More years pass, and I pick up the BattleTech Genesis Game.  It introduced me to the Clans (I hadn't been following BattleTech at all) and to the really cool looking Timber Wolf Mech;)   There was an ad at the back which gave info on how to order a FASA catalog.  I sent off for it, and got a little booklet filled with BattleTech sourcebooks and novels.  I even dug up that old 2nd edition game which I still had in my possession (and still do to this day), and played a few games. It was almost enough, but I was just starting to get into Games Workshop games at the time, and didn't have the money to spend.  So the third time didn't do it for me either....

Then one day something quite strange happened.  I was at a Fred Meyer store (kinda like a Wal-Mart) and was looking through the discount bin.  There I found a bundled copy of MechWarrior 2 & Ghost Bears Legacy.  When we had first gotten a computer a couple of years ago, that game had just came out, and I had almost gotten it.  Instead I picked up Tie Fighter by Lucas Arts and never gotten around to buying MechWarrior.  Figuring it was only $10 I bought it this time, expecting to get a week or two of play time in and then shelving it.  Little did I know....

I installed the game, and then was given a choice of which clan I would join.  Would I be a Warrior of Clan Wolf or Clan Jade Falcon?  It was a tough call, but I thought the Jade Falcon emblem looked just a little bit cooler.  So I made the fateful decision to join the ultimate Crusader Clan: Clan Jade Falcon.  Not that I knew what a Crusading Clan was back then;)

I started with the tutorials, and was soon being shouted at by the instructor, and being called things like freebirth.  I didn't know what freebirth meant, and though the word itself didn't sound insulting, his tone more than made it clear that it certainly was;)  I finished the tutorials and decided it was time for dinner....

After making a quick dinner I decided to look through the holo-projector while I ate, and then I intended to dive right back into the game.  Instead I ended up reading through it long after dinner was long over, and before I knew it, it was time to go to sleep!  The next day it was off to search for BattleTech websites, and I was quickly hooked by the background.  Finally... after so many times of ALMOST getting into BattleTech, it finally happened.  I was finally hopelessly addicted to BattleTech;)

I'm finally hooked...

As I was choosing which faction I would pick as mine, I briefly considered the Draconis Combine since they were my favorite from the background in the 2nd edition side bars.  After checking pictures of the miniatures for sale over at Ral Partha I decided I would go Clan instead.  Their Mechs just had a certain look to them that the Inner Sphere Mechs just didn't have for me.  And so I became a fanatical Warrior of Clan Jade Falcon....

A few weeks later I went on a BattleTech buying spree at my local gaming store, a little while later I began work on this web site, and the rest is history.  That's the story of my long, strange relationship with FASA, which has now finally come to an end.  However, the story of me and BattleTech will continue long into the future thanks to Wizkids.  

Of course that begs the question:  What will Wizkids do with the BattleTech franchise?  I can't answer that question, but I can certainly give my opinion on what I'd LIKE them to do.  And so that will be next month's editorial....

--Terren Bruce