Editing Tales of the Black Widow Company

{{InfoBoxProduct
| image               = 1605.jpg
| name                = 
| type                = Scenario Pack
| author              = 
| development         = [[Jordan K. Weisman]]<br />[[L. Ross Babcock III]] (Editor-In-Chief)<br />[[Donna Ippolito]] (Editor)
| primarywriting      = L. Ross Babcock,<br />[[w:Patrick Larkin|Patrick L. Larkin]],<br />[[Richard Meyer]],<br />[[J. Andrew Keith]],<br />[[William H. Keith, Jr.]]
| pages               = 48
| cover               = [[Jim Halloway]]
| interiorart         = 
| illustrations       = [[Dana Knutson]],<br />[[Todd Marsh]],<br />[[Jane Bigos]]
| publisher           = [[FASA]]
| productioncode      = 1605
| year                = 1985
| ISBN10              = 0931787653
| ISBN13              = 978-0931787652
| MSRP                = $8.00
| content             = 
| era                 = [[Succession Wars era]]
| timeline            = [[3015]] &ndash; [[3022]]
| series              = 
| precededby          = 
| followedby          = [[More Tales of the Black Widow]]
}}
==Description==
'''''Tales of the Black Widow Company''''' is the first scenario pack that was published for the [[BattleTech]] boardgame. It was apparently designed with the earlier [[Battledroids]] rules, as the unique [[BattleMech]]s featured in the book comply with Battledroids construction rules but violate BattleTech construction rules.

The book focuses on the legendary [[Natasha Kerensky]] and her [[Black Widow Company]]. It details the unit's pilots and [['Mech]]s during the period that their parent unit, [[Wolf's Dragoons]], were in the service of the [[Draconis Combine]] ([[3023]] to [[3028]]). A separate scenario is set in [[3022]], when the Dragoons were in service of the [[Lyran Commonwealth]]. The book gives a brief history of Wolf's Dragoons, and their leader [[Jaime Wolf]], before going on to detail the history of the Black Widow Company itself. It then gives information of all twelve pilots in the company and their 'Mechs, including details of mechanical foibles and failures that the 'Mechs suffer from.

After the information on the unit, the book presents eleven stand-alone scenarios and a short four-mission campaign to challenge the Black Widow Company. Each scenario has a short piece of fiction to set the scene before going on to detail the setup for the mission, with information on which members of the Black Widow Company are involved in the battle and how they are deployed, details of the opposing units and their deployment, victory and loss conditions for each side as well as any special rules for the scenario.

==From the back cover==
{{quote|''This supplement is packed with descriptions of one of BattleTech's most elite fighting companies: The [[Black Widow Company]] of [[Wolf's Dragoons]]. Selling their services to the highest bidder, this [[mercenary unit]] is well known throughout the [[Successor States]]. Included is a history of the Black Widow Company and her commander, [[Natasha Kerensky]], details of the units that make up the company and the [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]]s who do the fighting, plus 15 scenarios of actual engagements fought by the Black Widow.''}}

==Contents==
* Introduction
** How To Use The Scenarios Presented
* [[Wolf's Dragoons]]
** Brief Regimental History
** [[Jaime Wolf]], Brief Personal History
** Kerensky's [[Black Widow Company|Black Widows]]: Brief History
*** Command Lance
**** Captain [[Natasha Kerensky|Kerensky]]
**** MechWarrior [[Colin Maclaren|Maclaren]]
**** MechWarrior [[Lynn Sheridan|Sheridan]]
**** MechWarrior [[John Hayes|Hayes]]
*** Fire Lance
**** Lieutenant [[Takiro Ikeda|Ikeda]]
**** MechWarrior [[Miklos Delius|Delius]]
**** MechWarrior [[Nikolai Koniev|Koniev]]
**** MechWarrior [[Alex Ward|Ward]]
*** Recon Lance
**** Lieutenant [[John Clavell|Clavell]]
**** MechWarrior [[Piet Nichols|Nichols]]
**** MechWarrior [[Simon Fraser|Fraser]]
**** MechWarrior [[Mohammar Jahan|Jahan]]
* Lady Sings The Blues
* Queen's Gambit
* Scavenger Hunt
* Spider Trap
* The Lady And The Tiger
* Leave No Survivors
* Dawn Patrol
* Fog Of War
* The [[Bounty Hunter]]
* Lady's Man
* Ghost Unit
* The Battle For [[Hoff]]
** Scenario I
** Scenario II
** Scenario III
** Scenario IV

==Notes==
*In 1985, FASA provided a scenario named ''[[Bitter End: The Defense of Connor's Pass]]'' to the [[Game News]] magazine, who published it in their #8 (October 1985) issue. The scenario was described as an excerpt from the ''Tales of the Black Widow Company'' scenario pack, which was also advertised on the same pages in the magazine, and presented in a similar style, but it does not actually appear in this book.

==Foreign-Language Editions==

===French===
A French edition was published in 1989 by [[Hexagonal]] as ''Récits de la Compagnie de la Veuve Noire''.

===German===
{{InfoBoxForLangProduct
| image               = Biss der Schwarzen Witwe, der.jpg
| name                = Der Biß der Schwarzen Witwe
| language            = German
| contribution        = [[Reinhold H. Mai]] (translation and scenario design), [[Werner Fuchs]] (Editor & Layout), [[Robert Simon]] (Editor) and [[Harry Kaltenbach]] (Setting)
| pages               = 48
| publisher           = [[Fantasy Productions]]
| year                = 1989
| ISBN10              = 3890649017
| ISBN13              = 978-3890649016<ref>[https://d-nb.info/948556927 Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Catalog, ''Der Biß der Schwarzen Witwe'']</ref>
| MSRP                = 
}}
A German edition was released by [[Fantasy Productions]] in 1989. The translation, as well as one additional BattleTech scenario not included in the original version of the product, were credited to Reinhold H. Mai. The German version is printed as DIN A4, a standard European paper size, which is a little larger then North American [[w:Paper size|Letter]].

====Alterations====
In typical FanPro fashion, the original edition was not just translated but altered to some degree:

* The "Spider Trap" scenario (depicting the attempt by elements of the [[3rd Davion Guards]] and [[Lindon's Company]] to kill Natasha Kerensky during a battle on [[Coursadin]]) is not included. This scenario was instead included in the rulebook going with the German edition of the [[BattleTech 2nd Edition]] boxed set.
* A new scenario by German translator Reinhold H. Mai: "Heisse Gemüter" (''Quick Temper'') was added - Draconis Combine forces have attacked the Lyran world [[Kobe]], where Kerensky's Command Lance encounters Ryan's Battle Lance of the defending [[Waco Rangers]]. Both sides have another lance on the way to support them. The landscape, including all water, is frozen, but a nearby volcano is active and gradually raising the ambient temperature during the battle.
* The back cover was changed:
** The half-sentence "Selling their services to the highest bidder," is left out in German translation.
** The back cover shows illustrations of the Black Widow Company's 'Mechs, next to them is a text suggesting to cut them out for using them in gameplay ("''Die nebenstehenden 'Mechs können ausgeschnitten und als BattleTech-Figuren für diese Einheit benutzt werden.''")
** The back cover lists some of the scenarios included.

====Spelling and Names====
As with other German products prior to 1997 spelling and names (especially places and units) as well as most abbreviations were regularly adjusted. For instance the 'Mech unit ''[[Archer]]'' was renamed to ''Schütze'', the planet [[Götterdämmerung (system)|Gotterdammerung]] was respelled to ''Götterdämmerung'', the ''[[DCMS]]'' (''Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery'') became ''VSDK'' (''Vereinigte Streitkräfte des Draconis Kombinats'') and so on.

===Spanish===
A Spanish edition was published by [[Diseños Orbitales]] in 1990 as [[List of BattleTech Products in Spanish#Las crónicas de la Compañía Viuda Negra|''Las crónicas de la Compañía Viuda Negra'']].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:1605.jpg|Original 1985 cover. Art by Jim Holloway.
Image:Biss der Schwarzen Witwe, der.jpg|Cover of 1989 German edition.
Image:Black Widow Company Japanese.jpg|Cover of 1985 Japanese edition (ISBN 4-8291-7209-6).
Image:SpanishLas_Cronicas_de_la_Compañia_Viuda_Negra.jpg|Cover of Spanish edition.
</gallery>

=References=
<references/>


[[Category: Scenario Packs]]
[[Category: French Editions]]
[[Category: German Editions]]
[[Category: Japanese Editions]]
[[Category: Spanish Editions]]