BattleTech

>Play for 30 hours in vanilla
>Install BTA3062 and RogueTech
>Play for another 800 hours
Yep, that's just how it goes.

The base game is basically one dimensional checkers, but drop one of the massive overhaul mods like BTA3062 or Roguetech in and it becomes like 4D chess. Still probably would recommend waiting for a sale tho

Table Flipping Good
TLDR: Great entry into BattleTech/MechWarrior universe, but as a game its extremely niche and slow paced. There are games that do turn-based tactics better and a lot faster, but if you really want your giant mech fixings, its probably the best intro into the franchise and a good starter for anyone interested in the universe. I would recommend.
I have only recently gotten into BattleTech and MechWarrior. I was not prepared for the dense amount of lore this series has. Honestly, BattleTech as a franchise checks a lot of boxes. Giant scrappy mechs duking it out on the field of battle, in a grimdark future of space where mankind has conquered the stars (no xenos for you 40kers out there). Noble Houses and intrigue equivalent to GoT? Lost technology in an age of technological stagnation? A long history of wars and eras to play in? Yeah, BattleTech hits hard. It isn’t totally unfriendly for casuals in the way 40k can be, but it’s the perfect entry for people who want to get into tabletop wargames.
If you aren’t familiar with anything BattleTech or MechWarrior related, you pilot the clunkiest tanks on legs in a densely written universe. Each pilotable Mech is divided into different weight classes in tonnage, from lights to the heaviest of heavies, each with their own variants. Lighter mechs are typical scouts while anything bigger is the equivalent of a Metal Gear and mobile suits with more guns. Okay enough of the tabletop. How’s the game?
There are two parts to BattleTech game: the overworld and the combat missions. The overworld is the base management, traversal portion of the game where the combat missions are where you play most of the game.
The combat missions play like your typical turn-based tactics game. You take simultaneous turns with enemies and initiative is rolled depending on the weight of your mechs. Lighter mechs go faster than heavier ones (who knew?). You could go dead last with a group of heavies and get pummelled by the lighter mechs only to one shot the weaker light mechs when your turn rolls over. Where light mechs have speed, if you field a Lance (the term for a group of 4 mechs) of Mediums to Assaults, you’ll win often. In this game, bigger means better. You can individually target parts of mechs, from legs to arms and torsos. If either the head, center torso or both legs are destroyed, your mechs go down.
If you want to grasp the game’s mechanics fast the campaign serves as the main tutorial. Once you play it, everything else becomes relatively easy to pick up. The base building/management portion of this game is also interesting and super easy to understand. You hire MechWarriors to pilot your mechs. Each MechWarrior can be levelled up to give them positive abilities in game. Pilots can be injured in battle and be killed if the cockpit is hit. There is permadeath so be careful. You can also upgrade your mobile mercenary base, upgrade your mechs with better weapons or give them more armor, or bigger badder mechs, and become the best mercenary company in the Periphery. Its pretty simple and fun. Now this would be a glowing review, but I do have a few gripes.
The biggest complaints I have are:
You can only field 1 lance, and that’s such a shame. By the time you hit the late game you’ll be swimming in mechs, but you’ll only ever have 4 on the field. Though I understand why (in universe), but having a 5th mech or something would really help a lot. Some of the campaign missions where you’re getting jumped by +2 Lances at the same time as your mission objectives, could have used an extra mech to make the campaign or career mode feel less sluggish. Either that or I’m trash and I don’t mind admitting that.
Pacing is very slow. The game feels slow, and I mean that. I don’t mind a lot of the overworld star chart navigation and upgrading your mobile base, but combat takes it sweet time. It will really feel slow when you start doing the harder missions. On average missions take at least 10 turns. I know, you’re using big bulky mechs and slamming into clunkier mechs, but the turn fatigue might get to you mid mission and make you want to quit altogether.
RNG can be painful. Sometimes you’re not hitting on 95% accuracy (thems the breaks), on a lucky shot sometimes ammo explodes in your mech killing your pilot. The game gets hard and if your dice rolls aren’t doing well, you’ll lose everyone and lose the paycheck. It’s not for everyone so if you rage quit, its understandable. This review is running a little long, so I’ll wrap it up.
Conclusion:
BattleTech is great, but it does have some flaws. The flaws being its slow, quite difficult to pick up at first, and sometimes a slog. If you can look past it and give BattleTech a try, its hard, but its fun. It’s a competent mech tactics/management game. I fully recommend it.
Though I haven’t tried, I hear the modding scene for this game adds more and ups the quality of the game by miles. You’ll be replaying it for a long time after you’ve finished it.

We have to be clear on what this game is great at, and what it isn't:
This game is not an amazing Turn-based tactics game, or at least it isn't quite the equal of XCOM. It's not a bad turn-based tactics game, mind you, but if that is your primary interest in this game, then you'll probably beat the campaign, not regret buying it, but not like it enough for it to be worth it for you to buy the DLCs or try to get more out of it. I know, because that's exactly what I did when I first played it a few years back.
But I came back to it recently, and I don't know why precisely I came at it differently this time to get what it's better at, but I did, and do you want to know what this game is that is absolutely worth your money if that's what you're looking for?
A big stompy robot game par excellence, without equal. They are huge. They are chunky and mechanical and they move like monsters the size of buildings. And they are gorgeous and terrible to behold. There is no better big stompy robot game I've ever seen, and the selection (and uses) for them only increases with the DLCs.
As for storytelling: The story it has is fine. Enjoyable. It isn't the morally grey tale that the trailers got my hopes up for- "If Honor will not sway your mercenary heart, then Let's. Talk. Money." is beautiful marketing, but not really the vibe the game actually strikes- it works hard to give you personal reasons to choose your side in this conflict, and makes the ethics of it all pretty damn clear-cut, even if the characters involved all feel compellingly flawed.
It's not a must-buy, IMO, I didn't even write a review my first time through because I was pretty middling on it, but now that I came back and got it, it's a delight.

If you love Battletech, this is the best game for you. I've played since the first computer game Crescent Hawks Inception (if you know this game, it betrays your age...) and loved the table top Battletech. I've played near 2000 hours and the replay is amazing. Great value for your money.

Battletech, a game worth your attention
Battletech is a brand that got known mainly for the tabletop role playing game, similar to how D&D tabletop was played, with the exception of a futuristic setting. This game was inspired by that very aspect.
Playing career mode is where the magic is at with this game. Design and launch your own lance company. Hire the right mech pilots to pilot your walking war machines. Every pilot has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Some pilots will be better suited for artillery, others may be better dedicated front line pilots, while others might be best suited for scouting.
It's your job as the commander to get the right pilot in with the right mech. Not as easy as it sounds. First you will need mechs for the pilots to pilot. You can buy new ones, or collect parts of fallen mechs and build a new one for your team. On top of that, you will have to maintain and repair damaged mechs from your outings ... Something that can get quite expensive depending on the damage.
The more outings, the more money and experience your warriors will get and will make you stronger to take on stronger mechs. You have a wide variety of missions, but, like most games designed like this, you will have repeating missions. This doesn't take away from the game at all tho, as it's still fun to play the missions regardless.
The fun is not limited to the battlefield. You will have to upgrade your Argo, the main ship that houses you, your mechs and your pilots. You will need to deal with crew issues and your choice of how you respond to your crews issues can set the tone for your rosters morale and money as well. From time to time the action outside of the battlefield can be just as important to your lance as the fighting itself.
I've owned this game for a number of years now. I always end up coming back to it. It has a great foundation where you can jump in and play it as many times as you wish over the years and still come back and find it refreshing to play.
I personally look at the battles as chess matches. If you make a foolish move, and you will, your pilot will pay the price for it. Planning your next moves is key in this game. It's tempting to rush that target sitting alone with everything you got, however, you might be running right into a trap, as the AI could have artillery ready to knock down your attackers. Keeping an eye on the battlefield is critical and knowing what your lance is capable of doing.
Battlefield is a very deep and complex game. However, it is easy to learn if you are not familiar with the battletech universe. The backstory behind Battletech is rich and diverse with decades of the IP being out as long as it has been. I truly recommend this game to anyone that has any interest in this or if they are on the fence.

Almost didn't buy this game because 1 review stated that this game didn't respect his time (forced to watch cut scenes), well my experience in the first few chapters of this game is that I can skip cut scenes by following the instructions on the screen (press the esc key). I guess this just shows that sometimes you have to try the game and not trust the reviews. I think it's an interesting game and worth the discounted price. I'm not sure I'd pay full price for any of it. XCOM, the game people compare this one to, is a more complex game and in my opinion provides more fun, but I haven't come close to mid point of Battletech, so maybe I'm talking out of my butthole. Battletech is fun, and reminds me of the board game, but it's better, because the mechanics are automatically calculated and I don't have to buy and paint miniatures (LOL). I haven't noticed any bugs yet (i7, 4060 RTX laptop). When I play my fan is always humming (not loud but I can hear it), I use a fan plate, and my keyboard is warm.
I recommend this game if you like tactical, and turn based battles with the caveat that I've just started playing the game.