This article is about one specific product. For the series of game boxes that served as the core BattleTech product, and its iterations over time, see BattleTech boxed set.

BattleTech Introductory Box Set

Product information
Type	Core Game Set
Development	Randall Bills
Publication information
Publisher	Catalyst Game Labs
Product code	3500B
First published	2014^[1]^[2]
ISBN-13	978-1-936876-85-3
MSRP	$59.99
Content
Era	Succession Wars era
Preceded by	25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set
Followed by	BattleTech: Beginner Box

Description[edit]

The BattleTech Introductory Box Set is a physical game box containing the necessary pieces, papers, and material to play the classic tabletop version of Battletech.

Largely identical to the preceding 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set in terms of function and most of its components, this edition of the box set differed in that it contained miniatures made from a higher-quality plastic and new, improved molds in comparison to those in the 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set or the Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set before that. Several of these miniatures, plus the general miniature style, were also used in the Alpha Strike Lance Packs.

From the back cover[edit]

“

Strap yourself into the ultimate suit of armor: the BattleMech. Thirty feet tall and weighing up to a hundred tons, this humanoid engine of destruction is a walking arsenal with enough firepower to level a city block. The BattleTech game system takes you into the world of the 31st Century, where war has become a way of life. You are a MechWarrior. You are in command of the most powerful machine on the battlefield, and hold the fate of empires in your hand!

”

Contents[edit]

Contents of 2014 Intro Box Set

24 unpainted, ready-to-play plastic BattleMech miniatures
- COM-2D Commando
- SDR-5V Spider
- JR7-D Jenner
- PNT-9R Panther
- ASN-21 Assassin
- CDA-2A Cicada
- CLNT-2-3T Clint
- HER-2S Hermes II
- WTH-1 Whitworth
- VND-1R Vindicator
- ENF-4R Enforcer
- HBK-4G Hunchback
- TBT-5N Trebuchet
- DV-6M Dervish
- DRG-1N Dragon
- QKD-4G Quickdraw
- CPLT-C1 Catapult
- JM6-S JagerMech
- GHR-5H Grasshopper
- AWS-8Q Awesome
- ZEU-6S Zeus
- CP-10-Z Cyclops
- BNC-3E Banshee
- AS7-D Atlas
2 unpainted, premium-quality plastic BattleMech minis
- Clan Timber Wolf (Mad Cat) Prime
- BattleMaster BLR-4S from Technical Readout: Project Phoenix
One 12-page full-color quick-start rulebook will have players into the action in minutes
36-page book of pregenerated BattleMech Record Sheets
One 80-page full-color rulebook
Inner Sphere at a Glance, a 56-page full-color book of universe background and BattleMech technical data
One 16-page full-color Painting and Tactics Guide
Two heavy-duty cards of compiled tables
Two 18″ x 22" full-color gameboard-quality mapsheets, with four different maps
Two six-sided dice
One full-color poster-sized map of the Inner Sphere circa 3067

Notes[edit]

The regular miniatures in this set were newly molded (as reported on the box back) and differed slightly from those appearing in 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set and Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set, yielding miniatures with crisper details. It has been revealed that these new models were created using masters from Iron Wind Metals models rather than from casts.^[3] This explains the strong resemblance between the older and newer models and yet why the older models appear to be imperfect copies of the newer models. The multipiece miniatures from those prior box sets were now crafted as single-piece miniatures. The bases of these miniatures were also significantly redesigned. The new bases had a uniform height for all models, a smooth, flat base top, and a molded number on the underside of the base that depended on the model. (In contrast, the miniatures in prior box sets had bases with a textured top and no molded numbers on the underside. Some models, such as the Grasshopper, had a noticeably shorter base height than others in the prior box sets.) See Miniatures - Catalyst Game Labs#BattleTech Introductory Box Set and Alpha Strike Lance Packs for some detailed comparisons and illustrations.
The regular miniatures in this introductory box set were numbered 1 through 24. Seventeen of those twenty-four miniatures would reappear within the Alpha Strike Lance Packs that were published shortly after this box was introduced. In the Alpha Strike Lance Packs, fifteen new miniatures were also introduced, numbered 25 through 39, which were crafted using a similar style, including the bases.
Catalyst Game Labs had a miniatures replacement program for introductory box sets with damaged, miscast, incomplete, or missing miniatures. The replacement program was accessible through the Miniatures Replacement Form.