Rating:    Reviewed by:  Terren Bruce

Jade Falcon Sourcebook Don't be fooled by the two Mech rating. I really like this sourcebook, but unless you are interested in the Jade Falcons of 3053 and earlier, there really is no reason to get this book. It has a really great history section. In fact you won't find a better history of the Jade Falcons up to 3053 anywhere. A lot of this background isn't repeated in FM: Crusader Clans because of the space limitations when describing so many clans. Because this book is so outdated I'll rate each section according to how useful it is in the current BattleTech time period. The more stars the better. Of course if you play a lot of games during the initial clan invasion then everything should be useful. You can go ahead and consider this to be a four Mech rating. The first section is the aforementioned history section. This part is the best part of the book. It deals with each of the clans founders and the history of the clan from when it was founded until the end of the invasion of the Inner Sphere. The history section is 26 pages long. ***** Next up is a listing of all the planets in the Falcon Occupation Zone with a description of the most important battle in the taking of that planet. Also includes the month and year when the Jade Falcons took control. **** Then we have the unit rosters. This is quite detailed, showing not only the Mechs in every star in the invasion but also the names of the mechwarriors! It also has in detail descriptions of important Jade Falcon personalities. See Martha Pryde when she was only a Star Colonel! This part is badly outdated and is completely useless in any game set after the Refusal War. In my opinion way too much of the book is given to this section. Still it is useful in seeing how the clans organize their military and has shown me how to set up my own cluster. ** The center of the book has color pages of Jade Falcon uniforms and camouflage patterns. Helps bring the clan to life. I have to say the Jade Falcons have some really cool looking uniforms;) ***** The last major section has new Falcon second-line Mechs (other clans have them as well but the Falcons use them most). These Mechs are good and I really like the Hellhound but they are printed elsewhere (not when this was originally published though). If you don't have TRO: 3055 it's a plus having them here. **** Finally, we have a glossary section. If you don't know all the uniquely clan words that are used in the book, then you can look them up here. These are printed in lots of other places but if you don't have any other clan books you'll need them. **** Final Thoughts... If the unit rosters didn't take up the majority of the book, then this sourcebook would be far more useful nowadays. This book is completely useless unless you are a Jade Falcon player and are interested in their history. For that one purpose it's great. I love it, but because of it's specialized nature and the fact that it is extremely outdated it only gets two Mechs. Also you can get a general history of the Jade Falcons concentrating on more recent events by reading FM: Crusader Clans. Still if you want in depth early history this book is the one to get.