BattleTech: A Timeline Breakdown
The BattleTech timeline covers just over a thousand year and today we’re going to take a look at how and when it all fits together.
We’ve done a quick primer on BattleTech and on how to get started. Catalyst Games Labs also released a new(er) starter box for BattleTech: Alpha Strike. I picked up a copy and have been going over the contents and have been pretty impressed so far. However, there was something in particular that helped me understand the game and setting even more: a timeline.
This timeline was also in the BattleTech Beginner Box – ($24.99 Amazon) as well. It was located inside the “Primer” booklet that explains the setting in a relatively short booklet. As you can imagine with over 1000 years to cover it glosses over the details but that’s necessary to cover that much time in a 16 page booklet (that includes the front and back cover). Anyhow, if you’re like me and either getting back into BattleTech or completely new to the setting this timeline should help give you a clearer idea of what the heck is going on — and what era you’re battle-teching in.
BattleTech Timeline
Star League Era 2005-2780
This chunk of time is basically the “before time” of BattleTech. Humanity creates space travel, spreads out among the stars, and the golden era of humanity commences. The Star League is a space senate of sorts with the Great Houses of Humanity and all the Hegemony working together to rule. The Inner Sphere is the core while the Periphery realms are the systems outside of the core — the further away you get from the various seats of power the more “wild” the rule of law becomes.
But, of course, the golden age can’t last forever…
Succession Wars Era (2781-3049)
The Succession Wars are a turbulent time in the history of BattleTech. The Great Houses are all vying for power and control as the Star League essentially collapses and war spreads. General Aleksandr Kernesky leaves with a whopping 80% of the Star League Defense Force and heads out beyond the space occupied by the Inner Sphere. What follows is centuries of warfare that weaken the houses overall. The loss of technology and stagnation of knowledge hits hard.
This era is probably best known for being the “before the clans” time. It’s also the setting of BATTLETECH – the video game by Harebrained Schemes and also the MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries game by Piranha Games. Both of which are a lot of fun and I personally do recommend checking them out.
Clan Invasion Era 3050-3061
3050 is the start of the Clan Invasion Era for BattleTech. This is a pivotal moment in the timeline because, you guessed it, the Clans are kind of a big deal. You remember that Kerensky guy? Well all those folks that left with him had descendants. And those descendants became the various Clans like Wolf, Jade Falcon, Ghost Bear, Smoke Jaguar, and many others. They showed up in 3050 and basically kicked the crap out of the Inner Sphere for a few years with their superior…well, everything. Except numbers. The Inner Sphere had that going for them.
Clan Tech also sparked a huge tech jump in the timeline as well as the tabletop games. We won’t get into all of it here but it was another huge leap forward in weapons and Mech design. It also marks the Clan vs Inner Sphere wars and why you have “lances” of Inner Sphere Mechs vs “Stars” of Clan Mechs.
This is also the era of the video game MechWarrior Online also by Piranha Games. Fun fact, when the game first launched the timeline was basically 3048-49, the clan mechs weren’t a thing. Piranha Games spent two years working on the game and eventually when the game was roughly 2 years old, they launched the 3050 era and the clan mechs became a “thing” in the game. It was a nice touch. They also had an interesting way of rebalancing them vs the Inner Sphere Mechs…but that’s another topic.
Jihad (3068-3080), Dark Age (3081-3150) Eras
The Jihad and Dark Age were kind of strange eras. There’s quite a bit of fiction that was written for this period but this era was probably best known for the Clix version of the game that was run by WizKids from 2002-2008 in real world time. We’re also not going to get into all the licensing gymnastics at play here — just know that these two eras exist but there are (currently) no supported games set in this era.
ilClan Era (3151-present)
Once again open war rages across the inhabited galaxy. The Republic of the Sphere lies in ruin and the Great Houses and Clans do battle once more. It’s a good time to be a Mercenary but other than that life is tough. Clan Wolf is able to conqueror Terra and thus claim the title of ilClan, the Clan above all Clans. But that doesn’t mean everyone else is happy about it…
This is the era of the Alpha Strike. Technology is the most “modern” in this setting but there are still mechs from the older eras to be found. It’s a new(er) and exciting era to be playing BattleTech in, especially if it’s your first time getting into BattleTech.
Hopefully this Timeline Breakdown helps explain the different Eras of BattleTech. Mechwarriors, prepare for drop!
