It has been said of the 31st Century that human life is cheap, while the combat machines they pilot are not. Certainly this is true in military terms. In the brutal, blood and steel accounting system of modern combat, regimental commanders would gladly sacrifice a battalion of infantry in order to bring down a single BattleMech. Those ponderous machines which have been termed Kings of the Battlefield are virtually irreplaceable, priceless in any real sense of the word. One study suggests that new 'Mechs are being assembled in the various surviving industrial complexes of the Inner Sphere at a rate which only just barely surpasses their attrition rate in combat. The majority of 'Mechs encountered on the battlefield are centuries old, literally heirlooms which have been passed down from generation to generation within single families or, in many cases, within particular regimental companies. And of course, the humans who take these machines into battle can always be replaced. Or can they? There are aspects of flesh and blood and spirit which can never be assumed by the purely mechanical frames of combat machines, however sophisticated. The brotherhood which binds fighting men and women together, the belonging, the training and experience, the esprit de corps which makes a company more than an armed mob--these are intangibles which go beyond the statistics of 'Mech tonnage and combat firepower. These comprise the human element of spirit and tradition and fighting will which make it possible for a David to triumph over a Goliath ... or a pair of Wasps to take on a Rifleman and win. Even today, the human element cannot be lightly dismissed. When such qualities cease to make any difference in the balance of life or death, then Man as a species will be ready for the scrap heap, replaced by the machines which were previously his servants. It is this human element which makes a magazine such as BattleTechnology possible. Any magazine designed for MechWarriors which dealt solely in the statistics of 'Mech against 'Mech would have all the flavor and color of a technical manual. It is the human element-with all its fear and hope, striving and failure and success--which adds the fire. In this and future issues of BattleTechnology, MechWarricrs and other interested parties will find what we hope is a balanced range of columns and feature articles. Subjects will include anything of interest to warriors, techs, and mercenaries, from the politics of the Great Houses, to new 'Mech designs, from tactical reviews of historical battles to useful modifications to 'Mechs or equipment, from columns dealing with potential mercenary employers to detailed descriptions of worlds across the explored Galaxy. But in this endeavor, we must rely on the human element. BattleTechnology maintains its principal editorial offices on the small world of Exeter, within the boundaries of the Federated Suns, and satellite offices within the territory of each of the other Houses. We rely on the human element-the men and women who serve as techs, as mercenary soldiers, as MechWarriors across the realm of Human space-to provide us with the material you see in these pages. Combat experiences. Tactical evaluations of battles or campaigns which you have experienced. BattleMech designs or revisions or modifications which you have used, or had used against you. Songs, poems, or art which speak of the human element in a universe of death and blood and machines-and of life and hope in such a universe. BattleTechnology hopes to present all of these and more. But we need your help and participation. We need the human element. BattleTechnology is, after all, your story... STANDARD TIMES AND DATES Unless otherwise noted, all times given in this issue are Terran Synchronised Time (abbreviated TST). TST relates the time on any world to a traditional 24-hour clock set to the rising and setting of the local sun or suns. TST's variable "hours" may be as much as ten minutes shorter or longer than a standard, or "metric" hour, depending on the world's actual rotation. The 24-hour clock divides the local day into 24 equal periods, with 1200 hours corresponding to local noon. Thus, 0900 hours is mid-morning, while 1500 hours is mid-afternoon. All dates use the universal Terran standard calendar (abbreviated TC), which divides Earth's year into 12 months or 365.25 days, as measured by standardized metric time rather than the variable TST. TC dates are related to the current date, at 01 longitude (Greenwich), on Terra, and will have nothing to do with the seasons or local dates of worlds other than Earth. This premier issue of BattleTechnology is dated August, 3027. Back to BattleTechnology Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1987 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com