WizKids, the owners of the BattleTech franchise since 2001,[9] introduced a collectable miniatures-based variant of the classic tabletop game called MechWarrior: Dark Age in 2002[10] (later renamed MechWarrior: Age of Destruction). The game incorporates WizKids' Clix System , a means of tracking the combat statistics and abilities of each figure by turning a dial in its base.
The popularity of the BattleTech games and the fictional universe they inhabit has led to a number of related projects in other areas. The most active of these is a line of popular science fiction novels, with more than 100 titles published to date. The novels are set in both the Classic BattleTech era (mid-3000s) and the Dark Age era (3130s). The original BattleTech novels were produced between 1986 until 2002; the Dark Age era Novels were produced from 2002 to early 2008. An online writing project named BattleCorps also produces novelettes set in various eras of the BattleTech universe.[12]
BattleTech's fictional history covers the approximately 1150 years from the end of the 20th century to the middle of the 32nd. Most works in the series are set during the early to middle decades of the 31st century, though a few publications concern earlier ages, including a technical readout describing 2750s-era technology.[16] MechWarrior: Dark Ages and its related novels take place in the mid 3100s.[17]
The first official BattleTech novel was William H. Keith's Decision at Thunder Rift (1986); the last from FASA was Loren L. Coleman's Endgame (2002) which resolved plot lines and character arcs from many previous works. Subsequent publications jump ahead chronologically to the 32-century MechWarrior: Dark Age setting, beginning with Michael A. Stackpole's Ghost War (2002) and ending with Kevin Killiany's To Ride the Chimera (2008). The closure in 2008 of WizKids delayed the release of further novels.
