OBT Forum

Two Covers
The general mail order release cover which comes comb bound, followed by the convention/tournament release cover which comes with a wire spiral binding.
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.Synopsis
. . . . .Outreach And Beyond is a 48 page sourcebook published, written by Bob Nicholls, Paul Austin, Christopher Hartford, David McCulloch and Mike Stackpole, and published by Mechforce UK in 1991. The book concerns itself primarily with the training methods and regimes undergone by the children of the leaders and future leaders of the Innersphere, by the Wolf Dragoons on Outreach, and also with the training by the Clans of Phelan Wolf (Kell), by Natasha Kerensky on Strana Mechty.

Content
. . . . .Set in 3052, It contains rules for night combat and sensor problems, later adapted for and incorporated into Battletech's core rules, four Battletech scenarios, a Battletroops scenario and nine Battlemech variants with their record sheets. It also contains rules and gameplay for 'sensors down' combat and simultanious movement game mechanics, playtested at European GenCon 1990 under the name of "Nightmare on Elmstar", a whole new take on Battletech tactics and planning when you cannot see you opponent's mechs on the board.
. . . . .The inculded scenarios are; "Testing Time", lance vs. lance over four map boards, "Devils Domain", Paired Daishis vs. two heavy/assault lances over four map boards, "Exectutioner's Revenge", Kerensky and Phelan vs. two clusters over six mapboards, "Time of Woe", two clusters vs. two stars over four map boards, "Wolf's Alley", a Battletroops simulation of a Kurita assault on Wolf Dragoon's Headquarters at Sarna March.
. . . . .The nine Battlemech writeups (complete with records sheets) are Longbow LGB-8C, Longbow LGB-0W, Victor Davion's Daishi "Prometheus", the Wolf Dragoon's Training Daishi, Hohiro Kurita's Daishi, Phelan Kell's Daishi "Lone Wolf", Justin Allard's Centurion "Yen-Lo-Wang" in both its configurations (pre-3051 and post 3051 - before and after his training on Outreach), Phelan Kell's Wolfhound (his first mech on joining the Kell Hounds), Natasha Kerensky's Daishi "Widowmaker", and Vlad Ward's Gladiator "Executioner" after which the Gladiator gained it's Clan name.

Impressions
. . . . .The 'sensors down' gameplay requires a moderator, and a bit of getting used to, so is not something for everyday play and doesn't fit easily into regular gameplay, but it is surprisingly challenging and amusing to play and good for one off and occasional play, and there is something to be gained in tactics and planning by not being able to see or know where your opponent is.
. . . . .There is a certain nostalgic reverence to the names and mechs who were trained by the Wolf Dragoons and by Natasha Kerensky, and as far as painting a picture of how the leaders of both the Innersphere and the Clans trained their young in combat, this book does it very well.