I actually still have a copy of Battletech: Crescent Hawks Inception. I was surprised to find that hardly anyone knew this game even existed. I was cheesed off that you never actually get to use the Phoenix Hawk LAM that you spend the whole game looking for. Even less well known was that there was a sequel: Crescent Hawks Revenge, which conveniently forgets that the Phoenix Hawk LAM ever existed. The sequel was real time, but had a hilarious bug where you could set the game speed to 1, then just call in air strikes repeatedly while no one can move.
I played the original Mechwarrior as well, but most people only remember from 2 on. In Mechwarrior 1 you could take defense contracts, then just take a Locust, walk right up behind Battlemasters and Warhammers and blow their legs off with the machine guns. They'd never turn a round.
EDIT: I just looked over to my right and realized, I have a boxed copy of MechCommander: Gold sitting in my bookcase right next to me, and I have no idea how long it's been there. Says $9.99.