The James Prendergast Library will host a BattleTech Wargaming Club for teens ages 13 to 19 starting this summer, said Annie Greene, library executive director. Each program participant will receive a tabletop model robot and the necessary equipment to conduct a tabletop war-gamming campaign.

BattleTech is a wargaming, military, space-operatic, strategic, tabletop gaming system and intellectual property which includes an extensive video game library, trading card games, miniature figures, a role-playing game component, a 1994, 13 episode, cartoon series, and more than 100 science fiction novel tie-ins, according to battletech.com. The property was purchased in 2003, by the Topps trading card company and published in 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs through a license from Topps. However, the game was originally created by the now defunct FASA Corporation (Freedonian Aeronautics and Space Administration) a clearing house for tabletop gaming and role-playing games, in 1984. FASA, in turn, sold the rights to the game to the WizKids Limited Liability Corp. in 2001, until purchased by Topps.

Some local game shop owners are puzzled at the renewed interest in this tabletop gaming system which was developed in the late 1980s.

“We don’t sell any BattleTech merchandise,” said Al Steffens, owner of Chautauqua Comics, located at 214 Fairmount Avenue. “I am not saying I am not interested in hosting games here if there is an interest in playing it. We host Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering and other role playing, card, and tabletop games.”

Catalyst Labs’ BattleTech game is on display at a vendor’s booth during the 2023 Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, held at McCormick Place, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive. Catalyst Labs has reported record sales for the past few years with their BattleTech intellectual property. Additionally, the James Prendergast Library is set to form a BattleTech teen group in June of 2025. Submitted photos

Echoing Steffens’ comments, Ernie Laemmerhirt of Gamerz Haven, 707 Fairmount Ave., West Ellicott, said his shop hosts gatherings for more popular games.

“The games we mainly host are Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, Hero Clicks and games like that,” he said. “However, if there is an interest in a game like BattleTech, we most certainly would host it here -we have plenty of room.”

Laemmerhirt and Steffens comments are not particularly uncommon, said Michael Dudek, president of the New York BattleTech Fan Club, based in Ithaca.

“Across the state there are pockets -where the game is extremely popular- and other places where it is just dead,” Dudek said. “But it is great to hear the library in Jamestown will be starting a club for teens to learn and play the game I love. BattleTech improves one’s math skills (math is used during combat sequences); it enhances critical-thinking skills – by using strategy with mech movements; it enhances eye and hand coordination – utilizing art skill sets, to paint miniature mechs, and by designing a flag, and national banner; and it; it enhances English comprehension and writing skills. …When a player must write the backstory of his or her army and nations.”

According to polygon.com, BattleTech has seen a resurgence in popularity, ranking it one of the most played tabletop gaming systems in the United States.

“Catalyst Game Labs’ BattleTech line had one hell of a 2022… and also a pretty good 2021 and 2019. 2018 wasn’t too shabby either, it turns out. In fact, at the current rate of sales, by mid-summer 2023, the publisher will have sold some nine million little plastic mech miniatures since conceiving its all-new line of sculpts in 2015. BattleTech is back, and the next expansion kicks off crowdfunding soon,” said the story. “BattleTech began in 1984 with Jordan Weisman and L. Ross Babcock’s miniatures wargame, before morphing into a tabletop role-playing game, a franchise of video games, and a destination pre-VR arcade experience. Catalyst took the reins of the tabletop game some years later and relaunched the line in 2015.”

When questioned about the resurgence of popularity with the gaming system, officials from Catalyst Labs said, “A healthy relationship with its peers in the video game space helps a ton. Harebrained Schemes’ BattleTech turn-based strategy game remains a fixture on top 10 lists across the video game industry, its lifespan far exceeding, even the developers’ own desires, thanks to multiple outstanding fan modifications. Meanwhile, Piranha Games’ MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries had a middling launch, but has found success with follow-on expansions. The next entry — Rise of Rasalhague was released in 2024.

“By any metric, BattleTech is now more successful and more popular than ever before,” Catalyst officials said. “With the coming Mercenaries Kickstarter and the lead-up to BattleTech’s 40th anniversary, there’s an excellent chance our current staggering success will be eclipsed as BattleTech reaches even more fans.”

For more information contact Oliver Chenard at Ochenard@prendergastlibrary.org .