Best way to host a Battletech Demo (Saturday June 1st @ TheBrooklynStrategist)

[Leftovernoodles]

Hi All....   Quick question for those of you that have done this before.   

My FLGS is running an event for international Boardgame Day this up coming June 1st.   Since I run a monthly Battletech Game out of the store they asked if I would be up for running a demo.   What's the current word on best practices for hosting this type of event:

• Setup (Grinder?)
• Rules
• Mechs
• Maps
• Stuff to put on the back of the RS to help them get started?

I can easily whip up a scenario and have two sides go head-to-head with re-enforcements but I figure there has to be a better more flexible way.   I am mainly doing this for my own selfish need to have more people to play battletech with, so anything to help make this successful would be awesome!

[IronSphinx]

I recommend a 'MechGrinder scenario with units having Gunnery skills in the 2 to 3 range depending on BV2. It allows people to jump in and leave as they please, and if you get killed, you can jump right back in.

Rules: If your players are newbies, have never played BT before, or haven't played in years, then keep it simple. No crazy rules from TO/SO/IO, though introducing them to 'Mech Quirks or Special Pilot Skills can add a little variety, so long as you can keep it balanced.

As for 'Mechs, in these types of scenarios, I usually go for a mix of mediums and heavies -- about the 50 to 70 ton range. It offers a good mix of speed, armor, and weapons. Though we've run these scenarios with all assaults with great success. The point is to keep your forces as balanced as possible -- which is why I rarely mix Clan and I.S. forces in scenarios like this.

Maps: You can't go wrong with the tried-and-true Battletech maps from the older boxed sets. But if you have one of the new Battlemats, those are actually pretty nice to play on.

I also recommend using record sheets printed from SSW or some other record sheet generator that will print a smaller RS but will have all the tables/charts on the front of the sheet. Flipping pages all the time gets tedious.

[Joel47]

I second IronSphinx's recommendations. If they're totally new, keep it to one unit per player; to offset that, give them a weaker (intro-tech) "backup" mech to bring on if/when the first one is destroyed. Alternately, give each player a point of Edge (allowing for one re-roll) -- that's great for longevity, though it can actually reduce the fun factor involved in pulling off an unlikely hit.

Sticking with mediums and heavies is good -- lights are too hard to hit and new players don't know how to maneuver them yet anyway, while assaults can be hard to balance. Try to pick less-that-optimal units. These mechs don't need 95%+ armor. Heat efficiency is up to you -- efficient units are easier to play, but units that can overheat by more than 5 are good for teaching.

Figure you want one standard mapsheet per 2-3 players. You can start off small and add maps when more players jump in, table size permitting. You definitely don't want to start with a large map and few mechs -- the movement phase is only interesting to experienced players; the rest just want to see things explode.

If you want to keep score in a game like that, give kill points to everyone who hit the target that round so as to promote engagement and make it clear that fire is simultaneous.

[CranstonSnord]

Also, OrangeWoman can probably email you the record sheets for the current Grinder that's run at conventions, which has equipment rules for each unit printed on the back of the sheet.

[Leftovernoodles]

Also, OrangeWoman can probably email you the record sheets for the current Grinder that's run at conventions, which has equipment rules for each unit printed on the back of the sheet.

That would be great!   How do I get in Contact with OrangeWoman?

[GreyWolfActual]

Email demoteam@catalystgamelabs.com. That will get your message sent in to the boss, who is OrangeWoman. She is a bit busy at the moment planning Origins and GenCon but I'll mention it to her that your event is June 1st and we'll see what we can do.