I think for background I would always go with BT. I have never overly cared what the models look like so for me the sculpts etc are a low priority. For availability (I just checked) Ral Partha Europe has over 500 minis available to buy for BT.

I never really left the 3025 era for gaming BT as there is enough background to keep you going for ever in the lead up to the 4th succession wars.

Rules wise we did swap to Renegade tech which converted the old Centurion damage system to BT and makes for a much more interesting game although does make the games longer

Both Heavy Gear games are set in the same universe, so the RPG background is useful for both.

Whether the lists of the RPG are viable or even (tournament) legal in Blitz is a question I can’t answer.
In theory they should be (same universe), but the meta might play out differently.
However that is a problem that any wargame has.

Alternate suggestion : Adeptus Titanicus …

‘cuz if you already accept big stompy machines as viable, then taking it up to 11 isn’t that big a deal 😉

Battletech however has the advantage of having a turn based computer game that is quite good.
Saves a lot of work on buying miniatures, while still enabling immersion in the setting.

I’ve not played any of these games, but I do own most – perhaps all? – of the Heavy Gear RPG books and some of the Heavy Gear wargame books (possibly a mixture of Silhouette and Blitz as I bought them for the setting / fluff rather than the rules themselves).   My understanding is that the Blitz rules are a streamlined adaptation / evolution of Silhouette, so although they might not be tournament legal / directly compatible with each other, I’m sure you’d be able to understand books bought for one game even if you played the other.

I was never able to get into the Battletech setting, but I absolutely love the Heavy Gear one.   It’s a rich, interesting history with lots of opportunities for telling / setting fantastic stories.   I would highly recommend it.   It also seems to me that heavy gears make more sense from a science / ‘realism’ perspective than huge mechs or titans do.   i.e. being smaller, more nimble war machines they fit into a niche in a modern/futuristic setting better than giant building sized machines, however cool they look.

The ‘core’ Heavy Gear setting features two alliances as the two main protagonists: northern and southern groupings that are kind of reminiscent of NATO and the Warsaw Pact.   In the history of the setting they ally with each other when Earth invades, but after winning that war, decades of mistrust leads to them falling out with and going to war with each other.   The other two main playable factions in the main game are the remnants of Earth’s invasion forces (who have become integrated with a local ‘non-aligned’ Terra Novan faction) and the other major ‘non-aligned’ faction, Peace River.

As the storyline progresses Terra Nova links up with other planets in the network, which brings Earth forces back into the game, along with Earth’s allies drawn from the other colony planets, but I’m not sure how many of them are represented with miniatures in the current Blitz game.

I much prefer the HG setting to the BT one. For me it’s mostly about realism. Granted any game about giant war robots is by definition unrealistic, but I feel the HG setting is more grounded and their technology and societies and reasons for fighting seem more believable.

Also I think someone on this site mentioned stocking HG in the UK so you may be able to find a local source and not pay shipping from Canada.

That said, I think the best thing is to see which game has more traction in the local area. Picking the better game won’t help if no one will play it with you.

I think the army boxes are pretty much all you’d need to play. I don’t recall ever seeing a HG game with more than 3 or 4 squads of 3-5 gears each. I recommend downloading the quickstart rules and the full “living” rulebook which are both available for free. You could easily proxy some space marines for Gears and try the rules out.

I mainly played the original RPG which was pretty simple compared to something like D&D. I have but never played the newer Silhouette version. I also played the original HG wargame which was clearly intended as an alternate to BT. It was played on a hex map and used carboard standees like the original battletech box game did. I liked it a lot and it tied in with the RPG flawlessly. The first edition of the Blitz rules turned it into a true tabletop wargame and seemed decent but I am in no way an expert on them. The new (second?) edition of Blitz is pretty different from what I can tell, but still a true tabletop wargame, ie no hex map.

The campaign books are very narrative. I also recommend the Story books if you are really interested in the lore. In brief, humans colonized the planet (Terra Nova) then for poorly known reasons Earth abandoned all its colonies and the people were left to their own devices. There were 2 “Interpolar Wars” which were basically world wars on Terra Nova plus 2 different invasions by Earth forces. There’s political and religious strife between and within the Polar federations. There are mysteries surrounding ruins and artifacts from (or possibly before) the original colonists. It is a very rich story that progresses over time.

<<EDIT>> I just realized I may not have answered your question very well. There were 2 editions of the original HG RPG followed by a 3rd edition that used DP9s universal RPG ruleset called Silhouette. In addition there was a boxed tactical boardgame very similar to the original BattleTech box game that had rules for playing out Gear battles and was compatible with the 1st and 2nd edition RPGs (similar to how Mechwarrior RPG and BT work together). Later they created Heavy Gear Blitz as a true wargame. That lasted for many years but recently they have moved to a 2nd edition of Blitz which is the current rule set. I don’t know if the Blitz rules are compatible with the Silhouette RPG rules or not.

@angelicdespot : I think you’re right. i think they posted info on the HG Kickstarter themselves as well.

A quick google suggests it might be @critical as he’s the one commenting , but I could be mistaken :

Heavy Gear Blitz Starter Set Kickstarter Going Great Guns!