>>96280046
Succession Wars was the original game era - the later eras where added as a way to introduce additional powercreeped mechs and weapons, invalidating the old models and making 'up to date' players buy successive ranges of new and overpowered models. Sort of following the Games Workshop marketing model, but not as extreme, as they made the new superpowered designs compatible with the old by (mostly) keeping to the original game rules. You can play most games with the introductory level SW mechs, but you will need to either have more of them, or agree to the use of special tactics (ambush, chokepoints, environmental) and terrain advantages (choke points, minefields, cover) to match the power of the mechs from later eras.