Alpha Strike: Variable Damage (My Take)

[Louie N]

I really did not want to add another level into Alpha strike, but my game observations have forced me to admit that the all or nothing to hit makes mechs with large arsenals very susceptible to lady luck. And we all know how she is like. For the record she is even mean to little kids.  :)

Here is my take on variable damage.

"Roll a pair of to hit dice for every single point of damage."

No different that rolling for that mass of Medium lasers in Standard Battletech. 

Thanks

[Tai Dai Cultist]

Kind of seems to go against the point of Alpha Strike to roll to hit multiple times for each attack (that's damage>1).

Why not use the variable damage rule as is?

[Louie N]

The variable damage rule as written does not address the issue I am seeing. The fact that a few unlucky dice rolls can swing the game if the Big mechs start to miss. This is true in smaller games. 

I am hoping my suggestion will equalize the luck curve a little.   

On a surface I do not see it as more rolling than the variable damage rule. Just more dice. 

Variable Damage = roll 2D6 to hit, then roll D6 per point of damage
Variable Damage (House) = Roll 2D6 per point of damage

Thanks

[sadlerbw]

Sounds like something that might be better fixed with either a PSA or more of an RP house rule. I'm not sure that having a large pile of points in a heavy hitter and then having that hitter get a bad streak of luck is really a problem with the rules because I haven't seen it happen often enough to be a frequent game-decider. This is especially true if you are using larger forces like company-on-company or larger as one mech, even a big one, just can't be that big a percentage of your total firepower.

However, if your problem is that mechs with big damage numbers missing causes too much of a swing in your games, maybe use some of the existing PSA's that allow for re-rolls or add your own PSA to help mitigate this. Maybe something like one of the following:

- If the MoF is 2 or less, the mech can deal half damage, rounded down on a failed attack.
- The mech may reduce it's damage by the target's TMM in order to ignore the target's TMM on the attack roll.
- On a failed attack, the attacker may instead deal up to X damage where X is no more than one half of normal damage rounded down. The mech may deal no more than [pick a number] total damage this way per engagement.

I would prefer something like those for a couple reasons: First, as PSA's, you can find a way to apply them only to the Mechs that are likely to give you problems without affecting mechs that are currently OK. Second, it avoids adding a large number of extra dice rolls. Third, I think your rule might actually end up making the heavy hitters LESS frightening to the enemy because with four or five dice rolls, there is a decent chance you are going to miss at least one even if you only need a 5. So, now there are a larger number of mechs that can risk standing in front of that beast and still expect to survive the turn. If you have a mech that does 4 damage and you only need a 5 to hit, the odds are 50/50 that you will fail one of those rolls. With 5 damage, the odds are 60/40 you will fail at least one roll. So, you will not only flatten out the low-end of damage, but the high-end as well. Since Alpha Strike moves fast and things dies quickly, I'm not sure how that will affect the game. It will probably make games last a turn or two longer, but I'm not sure how that might affect the relative power of different mechs. Finally, PSA's are already a thing in Alpha Strike, so you wouldn't really be adding any new layers, just using an existing one to suit your needs.

[Louie N]

My one concern is that the rerolls would make hitting too consistent.  I'm not sure.

I seen some games played with the Battle Lance SPA and that was my impression.

But I have not play tested with a few re-rolls added alone.

[alanesh]

Here is my take on variable damage.

"Roll a pair of to hit dice for every single point of damage."

A bit of a necro, but that sounds absolutely spot on to me. I am new to AS but this makes so much sense I don't intend to try the "official" variable damage rule.

[Louie N]

Hello,

I finally got a chance to re run the battle of the Bloody Pass (Clan Jade Falcon vs. Steiner).  This was a near exact rematch of an earlier game, but using the suggested variable damage rule in the OP.

I was very pleased with the result and I will be adding this tweak into my collection of Alpha strike house mods.

Thanks

[Papabees]

I've been playing this way almost from the start and have been really pleased with the results.

[gwaedin]

I came out with the same idea yesterday, after playing our 6th game against my son.
I play CBT but I am using AS to introduce my son to the game (as he is only 6 years old, but loves 'Mechs  ;)); therefore we play small scenarios, with only a handful unit per side.
I think standard rules are OK as long as you run typical 'Mechs with 2/3 damage per range bracket.
Once you move to heavier hitters, it does't work. Yesterday he was using a Nova Cat B which has an impressive 6/6/6 damage profile in AS. The difference between 0 and 6 damage is HUGE, it's an all of nothing shot that likely determines the outcome of the battle.
While the suggested variant of rolling a single die for damage point (thus applying a 50% chance) partially addresses the problem, it sounds unfair in case of extremely hard or easy shots (like having an 11 or 3 TH modified number). Since we are already moving from 1 roll for attack to 1 roll per point of damage, I see no point in not using the original TH number and rolling 2D6 for each damage point.
Another thing that came to my mind is this: if you hit by rolling exactly the TH number, you do 50% damage (on average equivalent to the original variable damage rule). One more point, up to full damage, for each pip you rolled in excess. One less, down to zero, for each you fall short (a sort of glancing blow). As an example, given a 7 modified TH number with the above mentioned Nova Cat, you do 3 damage if you roll 7; 4 if you roll 8; 6 if you roll 10 or more; 2 if you roll 6; 0 for 4 or less. And so on. It retains the effect of having a hard/easy shot with the single die rolling but in the end it seems a bit more complicate than making a single roll per damage point, which is pretty straightforward and requires no additional calculations.