Reviewer: Bradley Smith from Arlington, VA

How the Mighty Have Fallen,
I always loved the Federated Suns, which is probably an effort of FASA's; after all, the Davions were the heroes of the early game, fighting the "evil empire" of the Draconis Combine. They still are, or at least Victor Steiner-Davion is the hero of the game (see Shattered Sphere). Now, we see the imminent collapse of the Federated Commonwealth due to the intrigues of Katherine Steiner-Davion, and one wonders how it got so bad.

I truly enjoyed this book. It's like all the other Field Manuals, but coming towards the end of the pack, they've had more time to refine their format. It comes as a surprise that there are actually very few types of units in the Federated Suns, as compared to the other successor states; the March Militias form close to half the 'Mech strength of the AFFS. It also gives a decent overview of the military history of the FS, but I'd give my eyeteeth for a reprint of the House books.

The additional rules are good, too. I like the rotary autocannon and the targeting computer. The new OmniMech, the Templar, is the best Mech design I've seen in years. It's nice to know that the FSN doesn't rely just on the Fox-class corvettes, and that they're actually building a rather decent fleet.

I highly recommend this book to people who play Battletech, or just collect it.