Customer Reviews

Battletech Technical Readout: 3060

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best TRO since 3050. The mech designs are original and unusual, the vehicles are really cool (and unusual) also. I like this TRO because the mechs no longer follw conventioal designs, an hindrance in the previous TROs because designs became repetitive (3055 *yawn*, 3058 *yawn yawn*). The story took an interesting turn that justifies my Warden Position o_O. The ProtoMechs are AWESOME, but I think there should have been more info on them than a *really* short overview ^_^;. The artwork is the best ever seen in battletech, although some of the mechs and ALL the Clan vehicles look wierd, which is a good thing. Some interesting surprises with Inner Sphere Refits (IIC mechs).

First, to the previous review, I beg to argue. The industry of the Inner Sphere is more than capable of supporting so many new designs-they geared up for rapid and vlouminous production when the Clans first hit. Anyway, TRO:3060 is, in my view, the best of the bunch. The artwork for the 'Mechs is wicked cool, although the vehicle pics leave something to be desired. The 'Mechs themselves show that the IS is slowly adapting to Clan tactics. The number of IS Omnis is astounding, considering that the technology was first pioneered in 3058 by the Combine. The number of Clan second-line 'Mechs and vehicles gives them depth in the storyline. They can no longer be regarded as straight attackers-the existence of machines built only for defense humanizes them.

I thought that this book was done pretty well, I would have wished for more Inner Sphere vehicles, but the new clan ones made up for it. It adds immensly to the storyline.

This Technical Readout definitely has the best Mechs ever created by FASA. You want proof? When Mechwarrior 4 comes out in November, try piloting the Nova Cat and you'll know what I mean. Also nominated for coolest new Mechs are the Shugenja, the Toyama, the Guillotine IIC, the Canis, and the Blood Asp. The ProtoMechs, although being a good addition to the game, are themselves pretty cheesy (I mean, c'mon, they're really just weird-looking, oversized Elementals). Aside from that, the drawings are much, much better than a certain OTHER TRO (3058,cough,cough) which obscured parts of the Mechs by the positions they were drawn in, which ruined them because you could not see what the entire Mech looked like. I definitely recommend this, because it will allow you play BattleTech using the coolest Mechs ever.

PS: Buy it here at Amazon, because it's a lot cheaper than at bookstores. I learned the hard way. Clan Coyote forever!

Of all the TRs that I have read (excluding 3057 which was for battlespace), 3060 is probably the best. It has an interesting assortment of mechs, including a lot of useful second-line clan forces. It also includes some impressive (clan and IS) vehicle designs. The book has a ton cool of information throughout about the current condition of the Inner Sphere and the Clans. Perhaps the coolest thing about this TR is it actually has a complete set of rules regarding a new unit, the protomech. A lot of people say they suck and a lot of people say they are invincible. My fellow roleplayers and I are currently using them as part of a campaign and i can say that they don't suck and definetly aren't invenceble but that they are very cool and useful for most scenarios. My only gripe was that there should have been a section with level 3 designs and some new battle-armor types would have been cool (we did get protomechs though which make up for this). All and all 3060 is a great battletech book that most players will find useful, particularly for scenarios dealing with the current battles between the clans and Inner Sphere.

After so many technical readouts and with not much new technology to work with, it's hard to come up with a new design that truly doesn't resemble something before it. TRO3025 is always going to be the staple because it's the definitive Level 1 source, and the introduction of the Clans and Level 2 with TRO3050 cements that book's place in the BattleTech pantheon. With quite a few readouts since then, by the time 3060 came out it seemed the well for individual concepts had run dry.

This is mostly true for the BattleMechs. While there are good designs, and a lot of them look cool in the illustrations, if you drew up a record sheet and examined it it would probably just look like a tweak of something that's been around. This is less true of the vehicles for the simple reason that there are still comparatively few vehicle designs, as opposed to the plethora of BattleMechs, even though conventional vehicles supposedly form the majority of cavalry in the 31st century.

What separates TRO3060 is the addition of the ProtoMech, a machine that fills the gap between battle armor and ultralight 'Mechs (10-15 tons, originally allowed (although FASA never published such a design) but banned since the BattleTech Master Rules published in 1998). While a cool idea, it just seems to me to add an unnecessary level of complexity to the Level 2 arena. In my opinion, middle-of-the-road players have enough rules to worry about as it is - can anyone tell me off the top of their head the rules for hull breach in a vacuum? didn't think so - so while the ProtoMech is an interesting concept, it belongs in Level 3.

All in all, with the exception of the ProtoMech, there's no real compelling reason to pick this TRO up unless you want to add more complexity to your game - not necessarily a bad thing, but not a badly necessary one.

Two years since the last review on TR3060.
Unless BattleTech introduces an entirely new facet to the game, the TR series will have to die out - there are only so many combinations of weapons and equipment available. There are a lot of "new" designs in the book, but any fan should notice that most are enhanced versions of earlier designs. The book's strength is in the fiction accompanying each design. The art is NOT that good, I wish it looked more like 3025 and 3058. Mind you, some of the designs do look good; most look God-Awful Stupid (TM).

In the past years I have bought every FASA tech readout in order to maintain current info on B-mechs and vehicles. I would say 3050 revised was the best but 3060 has a lot of interesting info. It is, in effect a new generation of Battlemechs. Two gripes though, 1-- not enough comstar mechs and 2-- I miss the old classic 14 designs and original ComStar mechs, what happened to them?

I liked it ok, but there are a few problems. First those protomech stink. I think it's a new attempt at elemental armor or something. They looked lame too. The clan vehicles were ugly as anything. However the mechs very really good. The new IIC Orion and Guillotine were really cool. I like the regular mechs better than those omins. They don't just look good, but have good componets too. However, those quad-mechs are stupid, a 90 quad is useless (Remember the goliath). Other than that it was pretty good.

When I first read this book I thought that with the info in this book any one who had only played front line units can now start to use PGC into there games . The vehicles were wonderful and the lack of omni mech's only show that the clans are trying to kept the planets that the have taken .

A wonderful book for any Clan Khan