Inner Sphere at a Glance

Inner Sphere at a Glance was the universe book that came with several editions of the BattleTech boxed set, starting with the 2007 edition. It was the successor to the Classic BattleTech Universe booklet from the previous boxed set edition, and in turn followed by the BattleTech Primer after 2018.

Despite some changes to its layout, minor editorial changes to its content and a new name on the cover, the first edition of Inner Sphere at a Glance remained essentially unchanged from its predecessor, the Classic BattleTech Universe booklet. It underwent some changes for subsequent editions of the boxed set, but notably, the history section remained at the year 3067, omitting the Jihad era even though the timeline had already progressed to 3085 and beyond when the box sets were released.

Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set
The booklet first appeared as part of the Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set that Catalyst Game Labs released in 2007. The most important change over the previous universe book was the addition of two chapters named "The Mechanics of Assault" (a brief overview of space travel mechanics in BattleTech) and "Mission Types", and the introductory short story Perpetual War had an epigraph added and some parts changed (text was both trimmed and added) to fit on two instead of previously three pages.

25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set
The 2011 edition of the box set contained a slightly revised edition of Inner Sphere at a Glance, with layout changes to many parts. The intro fiction piece, Perpetual War, was exchanged for A Time of Ice and Fire, an extra section on the Clans was included, and the Technical Readout section was expanded to include the Summoner (Thor) and Hellbringer (Loki) that were included in the box as extra miniatures.

In the "Battlemechs: Nuts, Bolts and Tactics" section, the subsection on Power Systems was changed, removing the reference to uncontrolled fusion reactions causing lethal radiation exposure. Instead, the updated text simply says "the fusion reactions will promptly shut down and leave the MechWarrior to awkwardly restart his stalled 'Mech in the middle of battle."

By this time "Classic BattleTech" had dropped the "Classic" part and reverted back to simply "BattleTech", and the logo on the booklet was changed accordingly.

BattleTech Introductory Box Set
For the edition that came with the 2013 BattleTech Introductory Box Set the booklet was slightly altered yet again. To accurately reflect the 'Mechs contained within the box, the Technical Readout section dropped the Summoner (Thor) and Hellbringer (Loki), and replaced them with entries for the Timber Wolf (Mad Cat) and BattleMaster that came with the box.

Contents

 * INTRODUCTION
 * A TIME OF WAR
 * PERPETUAL WAR (2007 edition)
 * A TIME OF ICE AND FIRE (2011/2013 editions)
 * A BIEF HISTORY OF THE INNER SPHERE
 * Rise of the Hegemony
 * The Star League Era
 * Centuries of War
 * Steps Towards Peace
 * Fourth Succession War
 * Skirmishes and Plots
 * Enemies From Beyond
 * The Warriors of Kerensky
 * Clan Invasion
 * Victory and Change
 * The Universe Turned Upside Down
 * The Star League Reborn
 * Civil Wars
 * FACTIONS
 * House Kurita Draconis Combine
 * House Davion Federated Suns
 * House Liao Capellan Confederation
 * House Marik Free Worlds League
 * House Steiner Lyran Alliance
 * Mercenaries
 * Other Powers
 * THE MECHWARRIOR
 * THE BATTLEMECH
 * Chassis
 * Locomotion/Movement Systems
 * Armor and Weapons
 * Power Systems
 * Defining Characteristic
 * Movement Capabilities
 * Heat Dissipation Systems and Strategies
 * THE MECHANICS OF ASSAULT
 * JumpShips
 * Jump Points
 * Pirate Points
 * Detection
 * DropShips
 * Combat Drops
 * MISSION TYPES
 * Garrison (Defense)
 * Cadre (Defense)
 * Relief Duty (Defense)
 * Defensive Campaign (Defense)
 * Riot Duty (Defense)
 * Security Duty (Defense, Covert)
 * Objective Raid (Raid)
 * Extraction (Raid)
 * Reconnaissance (Raid, Covert)
 * Diversionary Raid (Raid, Covert)
 * Planetary Assault (Assault)
 * Pirate Hunting (Assault)
 * Guerrilla Warfare (Assault, Covert)
 * Espionage and Sabotage (Covert)
 * Observation and Mole-Hunting (Covert)
 * TECHNICAL READOUT
 * COM-2D Commando
 * SDR-5V Spider
 * JR7-D Jenner
 * PNT-9R Panther
 * ASN-21 Assassin
 * CDA-2A Cicada
 * CLNT-2-3T Clint
 * HER-2S Hermes II
 * WTH-1 Whitworth
 * VND-1R Vindicator
 * ENF-4R Enforcer
 * HBK-4G Hunchback
 * TBT-5N Trebuchet
 * DV-6M Dervish
 * DRG-1N Dragon
 * QKD-4G Quickdraw
 * CPLT-C1 Catapult
 * JM6-S JagerMech
 * GHR-5H Grasshopper
 * AWS-8Q Awesome
 * ZEU-6S Zeus
 * CP-10-Z Cyclops
 * BNC-3E Banshee
 * AS7-D Atlas
 * Summoner (Thor) (2011 edition)
 * Hellbringer (Loki) (2011 edition)
 * Timber Wolf (Mad Cat) (2013 edition)
 * BattleMaster (2013 edition; no alphanumerical code given, but configuration given is anachronistically that of the BLR-10S variant which debuted only in 3070)