CBT Technical Readout 3050 Upgrade (Classic Battletech) [Paperback]

Catalyst Game Labs (Corporate Author)

Book Description

Series: Classic Battletech | Publication Date: August 2, 2007

General Aleksandr Kerensky and three-quarters of the Star League Defense Force departed human-occupied space more than two hundred and fifty years ago, only to return in 3050 as the Clans: a society dedicated to the highest warrior ideals and bent on conquering the Inner Sphere. With their superior technology and OmniMechs, they almost proved unstoppable, before their defeat at Tukayyid and its fifteen year truce. The year is 3070, and while the Truce of Tukayyid has expired, the Jihad rages. The Inner Sphere 'Mechs hastily upgraded with field modifications to counter the Clans are proving their worth, as notable pilots rise to become heroes and new, more time tested variants-sporting weapons right out of R&D labs-make their presence felt, while the Clan OmniMechs continue to prove they are still the cutting edge of military technology.
Classic BattleTech Technical Readout: 3050 Upgrades fully updates this venerable product, fleshing out the history of each design, including notable MechWarriors/pilots, as well as providing fresh illustrations. Additionally, all the 'Mechs, vehicles and aerospace fighters originally found in the now out-of-print Technical Readout: 2750 are included.

Product Details

• Paperback: 247 pages
• Publisher: Catalyst Games (August 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979204763
• ISBN-13: 978-0979204760
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 10.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #521,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much Better Than the Original, August 9, 2008

By 

Andrew H. Macpherson (Derry, New Hampshire USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: CBT Technical Readout 3050 Upgrade (Classic Battletech) (Paperback)

This is a giant step up from the original 3050 book, as the authors noted in the introduction and on their website. The pictures are all brand new, with the IS ones being more dynamic with "action poses" instead of merely standing there in supermodel shots as they were before.

Another huge improvement was that these pictures now actually correspond to the text and equipment allocations, with the original version having items added, missing, incorrectly depicted (e.g. making the size of a missile launcher too big or too small, lack of consistancy such as making the Axman's AC20 look more like the Thor's missile launcher instead of the Hunchback's AC20, etc), or simply just in the wrong location.

A third big improvement is that the IS 'Mech and Comstar Vehicle sections are now full text instead of the 3-7 sentences that they were originally, which was rather annoying. Finally, the book adds another section or two of legacy/COMSTAR fighters and other vehicles originally in their 2750 book with new pictures and text, making it larger than the original.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tech readout 3050 Upgrade, September 13, 2008

By 

Jason Riha - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: CBT Technical Readout 3050 Upgrade (Classic Battletech) (Paperback)

This is a good upgrade of the old manual. It really does a good job bringing everything up to the Jihad. More importantly, the artwork is all completely redone. The old artwork did not age well.

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, June 2, 2011

By 

E. Beezy (LA, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CBT Technical Readout 3050 Upgrade (Classic Battletech) (Paperback)

I've purchased a number of the Catalyst published CBT books in the past few months and, with one minor exception, I am consistently amazed at the quality of their products.

I still have my original 1991 copy of 3050 and this version is an amazing upgrade of that old volume. The consolidation of units from 2750 into the readout not only makes sense (since ComStar circa 3050 was mostly comprised of SL units) but obviously saves us the buyer some money in the process. The expanded descriptions of the mechs, especially the Inner Sphere ones, is a welcome addition, it gives more life into the product, as the original 3050 was wholly lacking in that respect.

Another welcome addition are the additional variants described for all units; this book can be used up to the Jihad era with those included variants. I can't fault the original printings for lacking that, as obviously this was not possible since that source material was ~16 years away from being created. That being said it is a welcome addition to the new volume.

I was a bit surprised that there was not a Project Phoenix section, similar to the 3039 readout. I'm assuming the mechs in the separate Project Phoenix readout were supposed to be used at this time. This is a bit weird since, as an owner of the original 3050 I know the variants used for Project Phoenix mechs in og 3050 were not the same as the ones in Project Phoenix. Are these mechs considered lost now, non-cannon, or are players just supposed to not think about it unless they own the original products. It's a bit of a head scratcher to me tbh.

Another minor gripe concerns some of the variants of the mechs from 2750 that were in this sourcebook. After reviewing 3039 and the new 3050 I'm honestly wondering where the King Crab from the original 2750 went. That version of the mech seems to not exist in the current product line, which like the Project Phoenix issue mentioned above, just seems weird.

Minor gripes aside; however, this is a welcome upgrade to a classic product. I'm once again pleasantly surprised by the Catalyst folks.