
- BGG rank
- BGG #13,094
- BGG rating
- 8.2
BattleTech Compendium: The Rules of Warfare
- 2–6 players
- 120 min
- Complexity 3.6/5
- 1994

Rules assistance for BattleTech: The Kell Hounds
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
BattleTech: The Kell Hounds is an expansion for BattleTech released in 1988 for 2–6 players and 120 minutes per game. It was designed by Michael Stackpole and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Role Playing, and Hexagon Grid.
From the back of the book: "When Morgan and Patrick Kell first formed the mercenary Kell Hounds in 3010, few thought they'd survive for long. When Katrina Steiner gave them a contract, the Hounds wasted no time becoming one of the most feared and respected merc units in the Inner Sphere. It was not the first or last time that the fate of the Kells would become intricately bound up with House Steiner. Morgan Kell helped to save Katrina's life during an assassination plot even before she became Archon. Then it was an inheritance from Katrina's husband Arthur, a cousin of the Kells, that permitted the brothers to finance their dream of founding a merc unit. Much later, Patrick Kell gave his life to rescue Melissa Steiner, heir to the Lyran throne and Hanse Davion's fiancee, when she was kidnapped by agents of the Draconis Combine. The Kell Hounds played key roles in Davion history, too. They were there when Yorinaga Kurita killed Ian Davion on Mallory's World. They held off the Second Sword of Light long enough for Davion forces to recover the Prince's body, but Kurita escaped. From that day, Yorinaga Kurita and the Kell Hounds were destined to face one another in a series of climactic battles. When Morgan and Yorinaga dueled in one of these, a legend was born. The mystical nature of that battle left Morgan so shaken that he disbanded most of his regiment and joined a monastery. The Kell Hounds survived under the leadership of Patrick Kell. After Yorinaga killed Patrick on Styx, Morgan Kell came out of exile to rebuild his unit. He knew it was only a matter of time before he and Yorinaga would meet again on a day of final reckoning. The Kell Hounds is a scenario pack containing 11 BattleTech, 2 BattleForce, and 2 MechWarrior scenarios. It also provides personality profiles on the principal members of the Kell Hounds, a unit roster, and a history of the unit." User comment: These scnearios cover the period in time between the formation of the Kell Hounds and the opening of the Fourth Succession War. It also contains more scenarios than preceeding scenario packs, despite being only 63 pages long.
BattleTech: The Kell Hounds supports 2–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for BattleTech: The Kell Hounds is 120 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
BattleTech: The Kell Hounds belongs to these categories: Wargame, Miniatures, and Science Fiction. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Role Playing, and Hexagon Grid. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of BattleTech: The Kell Hounds are: Michael Stackpole. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists BattleTech: The Kell Hounds as an expansion for BattleTech. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need BattleTech to use it. Check that your edition of BattleTech is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.