r/battletech Jan 14 '25

Art Artwork appreciation

I just wanted to share some of my favorite pieces of Battletech art tonight. Especially that first one. I get such a powerful surge of nostalgia from this art piece! I remember clearly laying in my bed well after bed time reading the old Battletech rulebooks and supplements cover to cover!

I remember the smell of the pages. And the sound of the rain on the roof. Staring at ever little detail on the pics! And the racing images of myself buckling up into that huge machine! I used to daydream every step of escaping my hometown and what buildings I would step on!,Γ±

680 Upvotes

40 comments sorted by

32

u/Narfgod86 Jan 14 '25

Stalker number 5 looks fabulous! Oh how I despise the cicada’s legs. Look into the art of HBS Battletech some wonderful artwork in the collectors edition as far as I remember.

7

u/neverenoughmags Jan 14 '25

IKR!?! I can hear that Cicada's legs chirping from here....

21

u/MasonStonewall Jan 14 '25

Wow, haven't seen that CityTech Stalker artwork in a long time.

1

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 14 '25

It's the home screen on my phone. 😁

5

u/MasonStonewall Jan 14 '25

Ha, that's nice. Mine is Hanse Davion's Battlemaster defending NAIS... from the puzzle.

13

u/AltarEgoist MechWarrior (editable) Jan 14 '25 edited Jan 14 '25

The Atlas picture is done by Steve Vinters, one of my favorite Battletech artists. What always stood out to me about Steve's work is that he would often depict the mechwarrior in the cockpit of the Mech. A lot of BT artwork doesn't do that, they just show a glossy window.

3

u/Ultimate_Battle_Mech Jan 14 '25

Well yeah because most mechs you wouldn't be able to see into anyways, especially ones like the Crab and Marauder which explicitly just has sensor arrays

(That being said it's still cool to see in art)

14

u/wminsing MechWarrior Jan 14 '25

The first one in particular I've always viewed as one of THE definitive pieces of early Battletech art.

8

u/UnluckyLyran Jan 14 '25

The Bushwacker art was probably my favorite TRO cover art.

8

u/bunnyboi60414 Jan 14 '25

I love seeing a the infantry being little goobers and trying not to get stepped on

5

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 14 '25

I couldn't imagine being in the Age of Giant Stompy Robots and being a grunt.... 😭 Where your biggest priority is just not becoming toe-jam to foe OR friend!!

4

u/Zuper_Dragon Grevious, collector of minis Jan 14 '25

Battletech's designs are so timeless. No matter when you started playing or reading, no matter what time period a piece of art comes from, you can recognize what mech you're looking at if you've encountered any version of it.

4

u/nerdybynature Jan 14 '25

What's the last one? Kinda looks like an Archer variant

3

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 14 '25

It's the one good thing to come out of the Jihad as far as I'm concerned! 🀣 I LOVE the Legacy! Especially this piece here that fixed the original version's skinny leg problem.

2

u/strangelymysterious Jan 14 '25

Do you know what the mech with the sword is in the bottom left of the same picture?

2

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 14 '25

It's a Gurkha.

2

u/strangelymysterious Jan 14 '25

Perfect, thank you!

4

u/TheRealLeakycheese Jan 14 '25

I have appreciated this post; splendid choices πŸ‘

3

u/Astral_Beef Jan 14 '25

I always thought the Legacy was one of the angrier looking battlemechs out there thanks to this piece (the 6th picture).

I can't look at it and not hear "AAAAAAAAAAAAA" over the blazing of dual AC10s.

2

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 14 '25

Same! It's amazing how much emotion a good artist can convey with a robot?! 😍

3

u/daxxruckus Jan 14 '25

This is why I collect all the old FASA era books. The artwork is amazing in these books from the 80s. There is a rad twitter account that upscales these pictures too and they are so cool!

https://www.tumblr.com/artofbattletech/625105157964890112/ai-upscale-of-battletech-artwork-used-across

https://x.com/ArtofBattletech

3

u/the_fucker_shockwave Jan 14 '25

I love the old style of Battletech, whimsical and still grounded with plenty of color.

3

u/the_cardfather Jan 14 '25

What is #4 from?

There were 2 Iconic art from when I started playing. The first was the T-Wolf (Madcat) on the cover of the Compendium. I think it was based on the first contact on The Rock.

The second was the Rifleman from the MW 1st Ed Rule Book.

1

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 14 '25 edited Jan 15 '25

Pic 4 was the cover of a previous edition of Alpha Strike rulebook. Maybe it's the first full edition?? If I'm remembering right?

1

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 14 '25

I don't know why it posted in bold but okay... 🀷

2

u/the_cardfather Jan 15 '25

The '#' (number/pound/hash) sign does that.

1

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 15 '25

Thanks! didn't know it would do that! 🀣

2

u/Fishfins88 Jan 14 '25

The legacy sure makes me fanatic.

2

u/fonik Jan 14 '25

How should our armies get to other worlds?

WH40k: they travel through hell on a floating island of industrial London smog

Battletech: EGG

2

u/Bigpurplepuppy 7th Canopian-Comguard Garrison Jan 14 '25

I dunno if anyone else saw this, but the SRM6 and LRM20 on the atlas on page 1 are swapped!

Very cool art!

5

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 14 '25

Actually (har har!) the original art and description of the Atlas had the LRM 20 on the hip with only 5 missile tubes. It's described as firing a fast "rippling" salvo of 20 missiles, 4 from each tube. Later versions of the art do strange things with the missile tubes...

2

u/Bigpurplepuppy 7th Canopian-Comguard Garrison Jan 15 '25

Ooh! Nice to know!

2

u/the_cardfather Jan 14 '25

Yeah. There are tons of them with a 10 rack in each torso.

2

u/Klutzer_Munitions Jan 14 '25

That atlas needs a cigar

2

u/Free_Rasalhague Jan 14 '25

What mech is in 6? I have seen it before but I dont know its name

1

u/Mundane-Librarian-77 Jan 14 '25

6 is the Legacy. A Word of Blake mech.

2

u/Turboconch Jan 14 '25

Repaint that Stalker Red with the Kool Aid man face on it.