Heavy Battle

Heavy Battle
Product information
Type	Magazine
Primary writing	Mirko Bader Jens Kleinholz (issues 1-4)
Pages	ca. 35/issue
Cover Artwork	(various)
Publication information
First published	1991-1993
MSRP	3.50 DM/issue 1-2 7.00 DM/issue 3-8
Content

Heavy Battle was a German BattleTech fanzine. Eight issues were published between 1991 and 1993. It is occasionally (falsely) suggested that issue #8 was never produced, but individual copies have surfaced on internet auctions.

The first two issues were self-produced; from issue 3 onwards the magazine was properly printed, which led to a larger format and a doubling of the price. According to the imprint, print runs were between 400 and 500 items.

Canonicity

Although their Heavy Battle magazine effectively amounts to fan fiction, Bader and Kleinholz had a permission from FanPro, who at the time had the rights to publish BattleTech in Germany. As such, the magazine has an outside claim to being official in the broadest sense and is therefore tagged as an apocryphal product instead of outright non-canonical. It should be noted, though, that its content was not fact-checked or recognized in any shape or form by FanPro or FASA.

Notable Content

Issue 3

• Errata section (reader feedback) for the first two issues
• House rules for physical attacks based on 'Mech art
• BattleForce boxed set review
• The Lost World pirates (a periphery pirate realm with 'Mech and JumpShip production)
• Thor IV "Dragonslayer" (a bulky and very heavy, very short ranged rocket doing 6 damage plus high chance of causing through-armor critical hits)
• Winged Death, a unique modified JagerMech
• Awesome Tiger, an Awesome variant refitted with a Dragonslayer launcher, jump jets, and a 320-class fusion engine
• Scenario "Demons in Distress": Com Guards attack the Lost World pirates
• "Battle for Kasai" campaign, scenario 3 & 4
• Scenario "The Bet": On Solaris VII, an Atlas pilot bets he can win against seven Wasps...

Issue 4

• Giant, a 100-ton custom 'Mech design (later issues suggested the factory on Satalice was overrun before it entered production)
• Brief essay about (real-world) fusion reactor experiments
• House rules for reactor and fuel tank explosions
• "Shimo" coolant bomb (a .5 ton single-use item that will flush 3 heat points away with liquid helium but might damage actuators)
• Acid thrower weapon
• Gauss-Napalm-Ammunition
• "The Fourth Succession War" summary part 1 - how it all began
• "Battle for Kasai" campaign, final scenario
• Scenario "A Stormy Night" (BattleForce): During the 9th Battle for Hesperus II, Kurita aerospace forces break through during a storm and attack grounded Steiner forces, trying to cause as much damage as possible
• Scenario "The Tikonov Minefield Game": Davion and Liao forces clash in an area that both parties have seeded with mines independently from each other
• Scenario "Forest Surprise": A Steiner Lightning Company inflicts a nasty surprise on Kurita defenders on Buckminster

• Scenario "Vendetta": Wolf's Dragoons' major Kelly Yukinov was downed during the fighting on Glenmora and both sides send forces to find and retrieve him.
• Scenario "Doolittle's Raid": Infantry and four heavily damaged 'Mechs attempt to defend a factory against a mercenary depredations
• Scenario "The Game for Wolcott": A recreation of the pivotal 3050 Battle of Wolcott

Issue 5

• Errata and clarifications
• Technical Readout: 3055 review
• BattleTech Map Sheets overview
• DropShips and JumpShips review
• Rules discussion: Hidden units
• Tongue-in-cheek essay about the Marauder (hating this design was a running gag throughout the magazine's history)
• Vehicle cutouts
• "The Fourth Succession War" summary part 2 - the year 3028
• Short story "Duel" (showcasing the Inquisitor BattleMech)
• INQ-P1 Inquisitor, a custom 75-ton 'Mech design using custom equipment including Napalm-Gauss-ammunition and acid thrower weaponry, and a Dragonslayer launcher in the -P3 variant.
• Scenario "Duel" (after the short story): The Inquisitor is set against his pirate nemesis' Marauder
• Scenario "Guerillas in the Mist": A clash between Clan Jade Falcon and Com Guards during the Battle of Tukayyid
• Scenario "The Ambush": Lyran forces test brand-new 'Mech designs in a 3056 raid against the Jade Falcons on Dustball
• Scenario "Interception": In 2809 Marik forces attack the Capellan Gei-Fu system, and a space battle erupts where Liao DropShips and fighters face off against three WarShips

Issue 6

• Errata and clarifications
• Terrain building essay
• "The Fourth Succession War" summary part 3 - the year 3029 and war's end
• "Adler II" (AA targeting system for vehicles and fixed installations)
• "SKIP" head armor (1 ton, +8 armor to 'Mech head)
• "Schnüffler" (Sleuth) 45-ton wheeled scout vehicle
• Short story: The Sleuth
• "Slasher" 100-ton aerospace fighter
• Scenario "Battle at Crater Lake": A Steiner Leopard-class DroShip was shot down at Buckminster on a secret mission. Two Kurita lances move in to destroy the downed vessel and its surviving 'Mechs.
• Scenario "Schnüffler in Action": During a FedCom raid on a House Liao factory, Schnüffler scout vehicles with off-board Arrow IV artillery support try to keep off defending 'Mechs.
• Scenario "Oil!": Locals on Okefenokee can only muster some vehicles and infantry to fend off a pirate raid. Special rules are provided to open the valves on the oil silos and make the ground slippery for the attacking 'Mechs.
• Scenario "Purple Dream": An experimental Liao unit using a new combat drug stages a raid against New Vandenberg in the Taurian Concordat
• 3-way scenario "Renegade Cannon Fodder": Sent to reinforce the 12th Star Guards' defense of Orkney against Clan Steel Viper, the Lone Star Regiment cancelled their contract and tried to flee the planet, shooting their way past the 12th with the Steel Vipers hot on their tail.
• Scenario "Retaliation strike": On an uncharted periphery planet, Kurita forces prepare to bomb Redjack Ryan's pirate forces who are entrenched in a crater and possess strong AA power including Partisan tanks with Adler II systems.