New to AS

[Crackerb0x]

Played TONS of Battletech, but trying to convert to something that lets me use more of my minis at a time. So I was wondering a couple things:

-) Is there any kind of standard point value accepted as 'reasonable' for an afternoon game? I have both the Companion and the core rule book, but they seem to just say 'balanced' PV for scenarios.

-) What are the most fun scenario types? I know this is a relative question, but I still wanna know what people think here.

-) Are there anythings that don't have a direct correlation to standard BattleTech to be aware of to increase depth/tactical fun? I never dealt with arty or aerospace in BT since mech combat was almost unwieldy enough, but want to try here, I know that much.

-) Is there any centralized way to find a gaming group that plays AS? I don't use traditional social media (e.g. Facebook), so finding one is kind of hard for me in general, and was wondering if maybe anyone was active in Indianapolis. 

[Tai Dai Cultist]

1) 400 or 500 is common for a 2 hour game or so.  Tournaments where you have to play multiple rounds seem to often have 200PV lists.

2) I have the most fun making custom scenarios because I keep finding reasons to think the book scenarios are unbalanced in various ways.  In turn my custom scenarios suffer from a lack of playtesting and can themselves be unbalanced, but hey.  Still haven't gotten any worse off :)

3) There absolutely are.  A few that I think are important to recognize:
Combined fire is way more devastating in Alpha Strike than what you were used to in CBT/Boardgame BattleTech.  In chess parlance terms, if you "hang" a unit by leaving it out in the open, you WILL lose it.

As a corollary, losing a mech shouldn't be as big a deal as in CBT/Boardgame BattleTech.  A typical game of Alpha Strike has as many lances of units as a CBT game has of units.  So losing a mech in AS shouldn't be any more devastating to your side as having a mech lose an arm or leg in CBT.  Try not to get overly attached to your units... they're going to die and the only thing you can do about it is try to make the other guy's units die faster before you run out of your own.

Artillery and Aerospace are fun to integrate into your games because it's so easy to do.  Do note the brand new errata.. artillery has had lots of rules changes since the rulebooks came out (most profoundly, there is a rules-set for artillery that is standard rules/tourney legal).  In my own (not universally shared) opinion Aerospace has been underwhelming in Alpha Strike, but the most recent errata and the upcoming new PV rollout are both going to help them do better/be more attractive to use.

4) I'm not from that area, but there is a subforum for finding games here on the site that may be of use to you.

Edit: on point 3... I forgot to mention what may be the biggest tactical shift from CBT: small, fast units are devastatingly good.  A big bad assault mech is absolutely not guaranteed to pwn a nimble minx as it normally is in CBT.

[RoundTop]

One BIIIG thing about AS, is since you only make 1 to-hit roll per unit, the dice odd are not in your favor. Pay the PV to upgrade your pilots (or upgrade everyone to skill 3 from 4).

Here is why (Warning: Math incoming):

Let's say you have a Jenner (4xML, 1xSRM4) shooting everything at medium range against a hunchback that has a +2 modifier.

In Classic Battletech, if you were a 4 gunner + 2 (range) + 2 (target modifier), your number is 8. You have 5 rolls to get an 8, which occurs 60% of the time. So 60%+60%+60%+60%+60%, which gives you a rough hit amount of 3 of your 5 weapons. Cool, you did some damage (Roughly 14 out of possible 28 [assuming half the SRMs hit])

Now Alpha Strike. 4 skill + 2 (medium range) +2 (target modifier), your number is 8. You have 1 roll to achieve this, which is a 60% chance.  Now if you hit, you will deal 3 damage, but if you miss, you deal 0. So you have 1 roll to get it right.

In AS, it doesn't matter how many guns you have, you still have to hit with them, so it is really important to have a good skill. You can't rely on dice luck.

[JadedFalcon]

Some notes in regard to depth/tactical fun:

After getting the hang of the basics, I would recommend trying out the variable damage rules.

The to-hit numbers in Roundtop's example will change as soon as the Jenner begins moving, with CBT adding to-hit penalties for walking or running. Because things are easier to hit in AS, it can be a good idea to use cover even at long range.

If you enjoy the game and want to add more flavor, the lance formation rules in the AS Companion appear to have been a popular addition.

[Crackerb0x]

Thanks for the responses, guys! Now to some meat and potatoes of more specific questions;

Does anyone have a suggestion of introducing artillery and/or aerospace to the game for those who haven't used it before? Or at least what wouldnt be overwhelming to use?

Additionally, I typically like running Shadow Division forces and was wondering if anyone had any advice/comments on the celestial series mechs?

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I think more is made of the "all or nothing" nature of attacks in Alpha Strike than is warranted.  I mean, in CBT all the shells fired by an autocannon or pulse laser are resolved "all or nothing" as well.  It's really the same thing, just at a different level of granularity.

Yes, if you need an 8+ and therefore have roughly only a 40% chance of hitting your target, you'll want to fire more than one "thing".  That's the same idea in both game systems, but the nature of that "thing" becomes multiple mechs in AS rather than multiple weapons in CBT.

That dovetails into another subtle yet profound difference from CBT: there's no attack declaration phase in Alpha Strike.  If you need 8s to hit your intended target, you don't have to allocate all your shots before any dice are rolled.  You roll them attack by attack, and once you do get the needed damage to drop a target, you know you can begin allocating the rest of your shots at other targets.  This efficiency in not wasting attacks on units that are already going to die anyway makes fore a huge implication in how fast stuff dies in AS compared to CBT.


As for advice in integrating Aero and Artillery: download and review the errata here.  There's no substitute for being an expert on what the rules currently say, as your friends probably won't be and arguing over "well the book says A but I heard B on the forums.." is something you want to avoid.

That being said, once you master the changes to the rules it's pretty straightforward in including them in gameplay.  They're designed to be so.  Standard rules artillery is basically just another form of any old attack, only you have an AoE and it might drift if you miss.  Ditto for bombs from AeroSpace.

[Andy_in_Indy]

-) Is there any centralized way to find a gaming group that plays AS? I don't use traditional social media (e.g. Facebook), so finding one is kind of hard for me in general, and was wondering if maybe anyone was active in Indianapolis. 

I am not a very active player, but I like Alpha Strike and I live in Indianapolis.  Our Makerspace (http://clubcyberia.org) has a Board Game night every 2nd Thursday of the month.  If you show up and say you are looking for someone to play "miniature giant robots", they will go find me.

-Andy in Indy

[Son of Kerenski]

One BIIIG thing about AS, is since you only make 1 to-hit roll per unit, the dice odd are not in your favor. Pay the PV to upgrade your pilots (or upgrade everyone to skill 3 from 4).

Here is why (Warning: Math incoming):

Let's say you have a Jenner (4xML, 1xSRM4) shooting everything at medium range against a hunchback that has a +2 modifier.

In Classic Battletech, if you were a 4 gunner + 2 (range) + 2 (target modifier), your number is 8. You have 5 rolls to get an 8, which occurs 60% of the time. So 60%+60%+60%+60%+60%, which gives you a rough hit amount of 3 of your 5 weapons. Cool, you did some damage (Roughly 14 out of possible 28 [assuming half the SRMs hit])

Now Alpha Strike. 4 skill + 2 (medium range) +2 (target modifier), your number is 8. You have 1 roll to achieve this, which is a 60% chance.  Now if you hit, you will deal 3 damage, but if you miss, you deal 0. So you have 1 roll to get it right.

In AS, it doesn't matter how many guns you have, you still have to hit with them, so it is really important to have a good skill. You can't rely on dice luck.

Not to get nickpicky but the chance of rolling an 8 on 2D6 is actually around 41 to 42 percent.

Not a 60 percent chance.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I'd also quibble with the premise in the first place.

Yes, in CBT/Boardgame Battletech a stock Jenner has 5 weapons and so 5 rolls to make a hit for any damage at all.  Yes, Alpha Strike's granularity condenses that same Jenner's offense into one roll.

However I do not agree that means "one roll" is more critical in AS than in CBT.  In CBT, you're dealing with a lot of weapons spread across a few units.  In AS, you're dealing with a lot of units spread across a few lances/stars.  In the end, you're making a comparable amount of rolls-to-hit in your game turn whether it's CBT or AS.  Furthermore, in both games a roll to hit involves a set/non-variable amount of damage.  All that's really different is the granularity in what is being represented by any given roll-to-hit: one weapon or one mech.