Alpha Strike stats for the old Battledroids minis

[worktroll]

Okay, potted history. When FASA started selling the "Battledroids" game, before George Lucas got involved, Ral Partha pumped out a bunch of minis only partly connected to existing Anime IPs. These minis - known collectively as the "Battledroid" minis - soon got replaced by genuine (if not licenced properly) versions of Macross, Crusher Joe, and Dougram. You can see the minis here at Brian's Cache

It's my personal opinion that several of them were attempts to mimic more 'famous' designs, at a point where RP wasn't sure about licences. The Battledroids Battleaxe is very clearly a take on the Macross Excalibur that became the Warhammer, and so on.   The Bombardier was an Archer clone, and the Flea designer had obviously watched Return of the Jedi ;) Some - like the Bombardier and Flea - have been slipped into canon over the years, the Battleaxe taking a major left turn in the process. Others - like the BD Vulcan - were statted in BattleTechnology magazine or Stardate,  but didn't make the cut.

Those are the ones I'm interested in. I've attempted to run up Alpha Strike stats for them, based on published info. I've made a couple of changes.
- The Cestus design published in StarDate magazine corresponds, to my eyes, to the BD Vulcan mini, not the BD Cestus, which seems more of a Crusader rip.
- I also moved the Cestus & Vulcan to 70 tons, not the 65 from StarDate. At 65t, their design is overweight; I also chose to take the minis all using the same chassis as justification.

So I get the following AS stats:

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Model Points Type Size TMM Move Attack OV A/S Specials
Battleaxe BTX-1K 31 ? 3 1 8"j 2/2/2 2 4/6 IF0*, OVL
Crossbow BD 32 M'Boat 3 1 8"j 1/2/2 1 4/6 LRM1/2/2, OVL1
Cestus BD 35 ? 3 1 8"j 2/3/2 0 7/6 IF1
Vulcan VLC-6N 35 ? 3 1 8"j 2/2/1 0 7/6 IF1
Gladiator GLD-3R 33 ? 2 2 10"/8"j 2/3/2 0 5/5 LRM1/1/1, IF1
Hornet BD 15 ? 1 2 10"j 1/1/0* 0 2/3 IF0*
Falcon FLC-4N 18 ? 1 2 12"j 2/1/0 0 3/3 REAR(0*/-/-)

I'm soliciting opinions here:

1) What AS roles you think the different designs should be, based on their AS stats
2) Model codes for the ones marked 'BD'

Thanks in advance!

W.

[GoldBishop]

Role-assignment suggestions:

Battleaxe strikes me as a Sniper - especially with the OVL - though almost all of the Warhammers on the MUL are Brawler types (but that may just be a default)

I would consider both the Cestus and Vulcan as Brawlers.  However, based on damage on the Cestus, I could also easily see it acting as a Juggernaut.

Gladiator should be a Skirmisher.

Hornet and Falcon look like most Strikers and Scouts (not enough armor for Skirmishing).  Could go either way with these two.

(My opinion mostly parallels the Role descriptions listed in the ASC p.134-136, though opinions and results vary)

Model Coding Suggestions:
I wish I knew more about BattleDroids to help clarify/verify the original intended designs (the Cestus *looks* like a Cestus to me, despite missing the GR barrel).  The only thing I can suggest is to find the predecessor or like-typed unit, assign the prefix code, then adjust the suffix to identify it as an earlier model.  When done, assign "-BD" as a second suffix, for obvious reasons.

Battleaxe: if you would consider it kin to the AgeOfWar/primitive model, perhaps make the prefix "BKX-" ...otherwise, the -1K works for me.

Crossbow: CRB-4A or -5A (preceeds -6B)

Cestus: based on the Crusader, CDR-2R (preceeds -3R)

Vulcan**: the "VLC-6N" is actually an aerospace fighter ...so that's no bueno.  Either VL-3H or -4H to represent the "heavier" version (I see no known designations assigned between -2T and 5T on Sarna, so this would be where I would place them)

Gladiator: fine as you have it

Hornet: looks like a Wasp predecessor to me.  WSP-1T or -1X or -1A-BD

Falcon: looks like a reposed Hornet, or vice versa  ???  tough call here, not sure which was first.  Alternatively, this one could be a Phoenix Hawk (the pose with the gun down looks like the model I own; its just missing the iconic backpack jumpjets)** ...in which case, I'd propose PHX-1X-BD

** While I don't take everything I read off Sarna too seriously, the "BattleDroids" search had some interesting details.
 The images attached led me to conclude the differences between the Hornet and Falcon (cutouts were nearly identical), and the mention of the "Merlin" made me go examine it's stats.  While not exact, it's size and movement profile is similar to what you have for the Vulcan, though armor and damage are both slightly off.
Although not up for discussion on the matter, if you would consider the BD Vulcan as a Merlin, I would recommend MLN-1X-BD for a model name.

[worktroll]

Thanks for the reasoned response, GoldBishop!

I'm afraid I've used the Battledroids minis as my starting point - mainly because I have many of them. Where a later design has become canonised, I'm using the earliest given canon design as stats - things like the Firebee, Flea, Bombardier, etc. And I figured that the BD Rifleman mini is a Rifleman.

Next, to stat up the BD BattleDroids mini - four AC-10s in the torsos, and 3 ML in each arm, seems to be the concensus fitout!

W.

[GoldBishop]

You are most welcome!  And, yeah, like I said, I know very, *very* little about BD stuff (I wasn't introduced to to Battletech until the late 90s and tend to not look too far back unless absolutely necessary).

Next, to stat up the BD BattleDroids mini - four AC-10s in the torsos, and 3 ML in each arm, seems to be the concensus fitout!

If I didn't know better, it almost sounds like a 1st-Gen Rifleman III (the 90-ton variant with 4x Gauss Rifles)... but I know which behemoth of a mech you're referring to.  Sniper or Juggernaut (if you have enough armor for the latter) ;)