Critical Errors

For as long as there have been wars, mankind has been on a quest for ever more efficient means to kill. Yet even as the technologies improve, there are always missteps, unexpected--and, sometimes, unexplained--flaws in engineering that can transform a promising new weapon into a setback costing billions of credits, years of progress, and perhaps even a few lives.

Experimental Tech Readout: Boondoggles samples some of the most infamous failures in military experiments made by the Inner Sphere and Clan powers throughout history. Each design featured in this book demonstrates a disastrous (or merely abandoned) combination of prototype technology or engineering employed on BattleMechs, combat vehicles, and aerospace units from the Star League age to the Jihad era. Statistics and (where useful) Record Sheets are included for 14 BattleMechs, vehicles, and aerospace units presented in this book, ready to use (if possible) in advanced BattleTech games.