Looking for advice...

[JaguarPaw]

Hello ,
    New player , looking for advice as the title states. I am a father of two , with little time. I dabbled with the boxed set from years ago, but never had anyone to play against. Well , now i have children. My oldest just turned 8 , and has a firm grasp on pokemon , and several complex tablet games. . . including mech type combat games. Long story short , we've been looking for some robot combat. We piddled with Mobile Frame : Zero , but it was a little too unpolished. We had far more questions than answers , and he wasnt interested in actually playing the game , he just wanted to build the (rather expensive) little bots. So did I. We have also looked into (and purchased) some TCG decks , but I dont have hard copy rule books , and he doesnt seem nearly as interested.

   We do however both want to play AlphaStrike . I can swing the cost of the lance packs , and I have the rules covered. I would like to get a head start painting with him , because that has always been one of my favorite things to do. My question , is which packs to buy. I know most people say pick a points amount and build your list from there , but Im kinda looking to set up a couple smaller skirmishes to get him into the hang of it.   I figure we could knock down a 2v2 , played in a 24" square in under an hour before bed.


Any thoughts , either on my plan to ease him in , or which packs would work for my situation?


Thanks
-Jaguar Paw

[OpacusVenatori]

If you want to play and already you have the box set minis and Alpha Strike rules, you only need to print the cards with the stats from the MUL http://www.masterunitlist.info/
check for the minsi you want to use and look for the point value of the card to be the closer as posibly.
If this will be your first try of the rules, 2 mech vs 2 mech is a good start. but keep in mind and the rules work better for bigger formations.

later if you fell that you want to expand your game option/miniatrures, then buy the lance pack. These packs conatin 3 minis already included in the box set and one new, plus the cards of the mechs.

[NeonKnight]

If you can afford them, I say get two of each. It would allow for you to then paint them two different colors.

And as stated, the MUL is an excellent resource.

Let take for example the ALPHA STRIKE COMMAND LANCE pack.

It contains a Cyclops, a Raven, a Catapult and a Cataphract.

One of the nicest things about AS or battletech in general, is 99.999999~% of all players don't play a WYSIWYG type game play, so using the MUL you have the following choices when filed those units:

Cyclops: 11 different variants

Raven: 13 different Variants

Catapult: 17 Variants, 19 if you include the Catapult II

Cataphract: 12 Variants

Now, each of the variants included anywhere from 1-3 'Named' variants, but honestly, those are just particular changed loadouts by pilots at certain times. Example, without knowing anything, that would be akin to saying the Hunchback HBK-4G 'Phillip' had the AC 20 and a heatsink stripped out to make room for a Guass Rifle instead.

And as your game grows in this manner, you and your son will be able to tweak and build your forces to something unique to each of your own play styles.

[JaguarPaw]

Thanks for the advice guys , it does help immensely.

 We dont have the IBS , as I try to dip our toes in to things gently ... We both have a fleeting attention span , and he may not be ready for this yet. I can swing a couple lance packs , and that also keeps us below the  radar when we start accumulating terrain and supplies. I was thinking of picking up an Assault Lance , and either a Recon or Command Lance. That , or two Assaults ...


Thanks again!

[sadlerbw]

Oddly, I just finished a game with my 6 year old this afternoon! He still has some issues sitting still and needs to learn some tactics, but if I ask him he can find all the stats on the cards, and can measure out his own moves. He still needs help with remembering all the stuff that goes into to-hit mods, but other than that he keeps up pretty well, and really likes playing. He has a command lance, and his sister has a recon lance. They have a hard time fighting those two head-to-head so I was adding in mechs from the assault and battle lance packs to even things out. The assault and battle lance packs are solid choices, the only down side being they are a bit slow. The striker, command, and support lances have a wider variety of speeds. Other than recon which is all speed and no armor, all the packs are reasonably balanced. The recon is great for a source of annoyingly fast mechs to add to a force though.

Now, a couple things that came up in our games:

With small numbers of units, say 4v4 or less, it helped to use the variable damage rules. Basically, you roll for each point of damage separately. Otherwise, light mechs were just a bit too vulnerable to lucky hits. It slowed the games down an extra turn or two, but toned down some of the frustrating instances where a mech would blow without getting a chance to really do anything.

My boy gets bored with any sort of scenario that doesn't allow for lots of carnage. He doesn't like stuff like Scan the buildings for intel or protect the VIP. He is more engaged with stuff like breakthrough, king of the hill, or just straight up beat each other to death for five turns and see who did the most damage. Maybe you will have a different experience, but my little guy wants to imagine robots exploding, and gets bored if they are not exploding regularly!

Lastly, if your son gets a little tired of painting, the Mechwarrior Dark Age minis are a decent source for pre-painted minis that you can generally find stats for on the MUL. I bought a few of the Solaris VII box sets and my boy loves them. They are much bigger than the lance packs, and all the metal minis, but still close enough that they don't really break the game if I let him mix those in.

Anyway, good luck. Hopefully it holds your sons interest.

[JaguarPaw]

thanks , sadler. I had inquired in a FB group about dark age kits , cause i thought it would be a good game to start him on. I hear review that the mechanics were somewhat broken , but playable. It seems like most people use AS rules or CBT with them. I was going to use them more specifically for the dial base that could keep him more engaged in the gaming part than the tracking.

I found the lance packs pretty cheap so I might pick up one or six...


thanks for the heads up. I know he can do the game , but we have been having a little issue with "remembering the rules" in real life... so we'll see. Worst case scenario i have some mechs on hand for battle night at the LGS


Thanks
 _Paw_