Title says it all...

Imperial.

Redguard too, or Breton, or Dunmer

Bretons and Altmer are the best mages in the game, based upon their racial bonuses. However, any race can work as a battlemage with the right incentive.

Any

Breton.
Why? Because that is what I am playing. Actually it depends on what you mean by a battlemage. I would say there are varieties. So how do you picture it?

I use khajiit, they are good for everything. Just like any other race

Be the one that looks coolest to you.

You will be happier overall.

Bretons are much sixier than the Altmer. Make that your reason to go with them.

Dunmer because they are good with both martial and magical endeavours.

Edit: "Dunmer, also called Dark Elves, hail from Morrowind. They are the Elder Scrolls variation of dark elves, a popular fictional race in role-playing games and fantasy literature. Gameplay-wise, they are well-balanced (tending towards a battlemage or spellsword class)."

There's a race that comes with +50 Magicka. I forget which one it is. EDIT: Altmer (High Elves)

50 Magicka is A LOT.

You start out with 100 Magicka/Health/Stamina.

Each time you level up, you choose one of the three to increase.

Each level up increases your chosen stat by 10.

That means 5 levels of stat increases already done for you.

For a battlemage, that's just awesome.

Anyone who knows anything will tell you Dark Elf.

Although any race is just fine.

Almost any race will make a decent-good battlemage. In previous games, certain races would have statistical advantages over the other races in the skills that would make a good battle mage (such as destruction magic, heavy armor, some sort of weapon skill, etc). For these reasons, dark elves(Dunmer) and Bretons are the most popular choices for battlemage characters. In Skyrim, those advantages appear to be gone. The only difference between races (other than looks), is that they get unique natural abilities (argonians can breathe underwater and regenerate health faster, Orcs can go into a beserker state that increases their attack power,Khajit can see in the dark and use claw attacks, etc). My suggestion is to take a look at all the races at character creation and go with the one that appeals to you the most. Once your character is made, practice using the skills associated with a battlemage. As Todd Howard said "Your actions define who you are". So long as you act like a battlemage, you'll be a battlemage.

That's a Breton. But they also have a vulnerability to magika or regenerate it much more slowly than other races, I forget which.

DUNMER DUNMER DUNMER DUNMER DUNMER DUNMER DUNMER!!!!!!!

Dunmer ( Dark Elf )

Altmer
(High Elves)





Summerset Isle

+50 Magicka
Power: Highborn

+10 Illusion
+5 Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Enchanting, Restoration

There. Go with high elves.

source: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Races

It all depends on whether you want focus on "battle" or "mage"? The Imperial has bonuses for both sides, as does Redguard now but Altmer or Breton give skill bonuses and other perks helpful on the mageside.

more defensive: Breton
more offensive: Altmer

Imperials base stats are the best hands down for a battlemage this time around. They get +10 to restoration, and +5 to destruction, heavy armor, and one handed. Perfect starting stats for a battlemage.

What he said.

Skill bonuses mean nothing in this game. What really means something is a starting racial ATTRIBUTE, such as the Argonian's ability to breathe underwater, the Khajiit's bonus damage to unarmed, etc.

It's actually a better strategy to pick a race that has NO skill bonus in what you want. That way your chosen skills (the ones you intend to use) will level up faster, which will make your character level up faster as well. And whenever you feel like increasing a skill you don't often use, who knows, maybe it'll already start with a +10 bonus, due to the race you picked at the start of the game.

So in this case (the battlemage), I would HIGHLY consider picking the High Elves, as they start with +50 magicka. You get a nice magicka boost, enabling you to spend some good level ups in Health or Stamina

The racial perks are almost completely worthless. After a few levels they're all pretty much obsolete.

Are you more about the battle part or the mage part? I usually use Breton but then, that's what I usually use for anything.

brenton, dunmer or altmer.