January 1985 BattleDroids Miniatures from Ral Partha

“Initially, Ral Partha was not enthusiastic about creating robot miniatures for FASA’s Battledroids game.” – Unseen

Before BattleTech, Fasa’s first name for their game of giant robot combat was BattleDroids. Constructed with licensed mecha designs, the BattleDroids game is very similar to what would later be published as BattleTech. Why the name change? Lucasfilm lawyers stepped in and put an end to Fasa’s use of the “droids” word in the title.

Surprisingly, as I dig through issues of Dragon for more info on BattleTech, the earliest bit of info I’ve stumbled across for the game is this block from a Ral Partha advertisement. No mention of Fasa or the game, just these miniatures.