Citytech: The Battletech Game of Urban Combat [BOX SET]

Battletech Boxed Game

by FASA Corporation

As war rages across the Inner Sphere, BattleMechs from the five houses pillage the cities of the old Star League.

You advance into the hostile urban environment, seeking out the precious resources and technology contained inside. The city also provides cover for your many enemies. Infantry men fire at your from windows, while tanks and armored vehicles snipe at you from the alleys and streets. Buildings become your greatest friend, providing cover and protection, or your worst enemy, as rubble falls on you from above. Chaos and confusion reign in the city during battle. Only the best survive.

CityTech takes the powerful 'Mechs of BattleTech into the realm of city-fighting. This fast-paced game contains all the rules and pieces needed to play.

Now is your chance to climb aboard your 'Mech and smash City Hall.

Genres: Science Fiction, Gaming

48 pages, Box Set

First published September 28, 1986

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

CityTech is the first big expansion of the Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat 2nd Edition world beyond giant 'Mechs fighting in a relatively empty field. I think the need for some of the CityTech expansion came out of a scenario in the Tales Of The Black Widow Company. In one of the scenarios there were buildings that could be destroyed, so within that book they tried to come up with rules for destroying the buildings. They were definitely in their early stages of this, because the CityTech actual rules are way better and much more fleshed out. They also account for the different types of buildings in a better fashion.

More than just rules for buildings, CityTech gives a relatively good rules set for urban 'Mech combat. I still feel like these rules are in their infancy and will eventually need some tweaking a little bit. They also tried to include just about all the rules from the 2nd Edition of BattleTech, while keeping the rule book the same relative length... so I just feel like they might have missed some situations. They mostly did a good job putting it all together though.

I think the surprising factor in this book is they also try to give rules to cover infantry and combat vehicles! I wasn't actually expecting that to show up in here. I knew it was in later BattleTech rules sets, but I was surprised to see it show up here. The rules for infantry are a little weird, but I guess they work. I believe they've made some pretty big changes to how these work in later iterations of the game. However, if you want to play any of the old Scenario Books, it's probably best to use these rules otherwise you can drastically affect the balance of a scenario.

The inclusion of combat vehicles, such as tanks, were pretty cool. They work, basically, in a similar to 'Mechs, except they are faster and have way less armor. As expected. However, they do make for an interesting dynamic and you can use them to harass 'Mechs that might be engaging in other offensives. I figure the balance of vehicle types will come with time.

In the end, I really like the idea of urban combat with 'Mechs and I'm glad they're fleshing the series out a bit more and making the BattleTech universe feel like a more fleshed out place. This definitely coincides with all the novels that have been accompanying the game since it's inception. I look forward to them building on what's already here in the future to really make the rules set more solid.