BT --> Alpha Strike Converter (v2.3)

[Xotl]

So, after getting frustrated going over a few units and trying to ensure I had the correct values, I created this converter.  It's primarily for damage, which is the trickiest and most time-consuming part, though it does armour as well.  It's still very manual, but it will prevent the math from going wrong at least.

All grey cells with red text are those that require user input.  Each weapon drop-down box has the full non-BA weapon list, both Inner Sphere and Clan.  For each weapon there's separate drop-down selections to indicate if that weapon has (enough) Ammo, is a One-Shot weapon, or benefits from AES or a T(argeting) C(omputer).  It will auto-calc your base damage and weapon heat based on these selections.

From there, all you have to do is add in the heat generated from non-weapons sources in AI 16 (movement, Nova, stealth armour, etc) and the unit's heat dissipation (AI 19).  Final heat-adjusted stats are spit out in the blue boxes.

The sheet is locked so that you only work in the right areas, but there's no password to unlock it if you want to mess around.  Let me know if you find anything wrong, or have a suggestion as to how to improve it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iucoz2e4eqi9yvo/Alpha%20Strike%20Converter%20v2.3.xlsx?dl=0


EDIT: it now does engine type and structure as well.

Most recent version:
23 March 2018 (v2.1): corrected heat-conversion rates, especially with OVL.  It should be up to date with all errata as of that date.
9 Dec 2020 (v2.3): corrected heat for rocket launchers and OS launchers; added colour-coding to the weapon option cells so you're less likely to miss that you accidentally had the TC or OS or Ammo flags on.

[Scotty]

Fields for tonnage, engine type, and structure type.  Those are the only things that influence structure, so you could make it one step easier to compile the information.  It'd be comparatively less work than adding every single weapon, too.

[Xotl]

I figured since structure was mostly just looking at a chart that it wasn't so needed.  Cross-referencing so many charts for a single value might also be beyond my skills, which is another reason I said meh.

But I'll see about it.

[Pa Weasley]

Actually I have something already set up for cross-referencing all the structure defining values and what not. It's also a bit on the labor intensive side but it lets you input all the BT stats via drop down menus and spits out AS stats etc. I'll shoot it out when I'm in front of my computer.

And now it even gives the proper C3 bonus to units with the NOVA CEWS. #P [metalhealth]

[Sereglach]

Fields for tonnage, engine type, and structure type.  Those are the only things that influence structure, so you could make it one step easier to compile the information.  It'd be comparatively less work than adding every single weapon, too.

If this converter got these items it'd be able to pretty much do anything you throw at it.  All you'd need to do is figure out specials . . . which with this spreadsheet it'd be even easier, since it puts all the damage breakdowns in front of you.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this thread.  Thank you, good sir, for your awesomeness!

[Pa Weasley]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ggz8755tp10cxn1/Battle%20armor%20construction.xlsx?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yhht0xmkzrvgj1v/BattleMech%20construction.xlsx?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/usu799oo7j01m8n/Combat%20Vehicle%20construction.xlsx?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gohjcricsbhxuhg/Fighter%20and%20Small%20Craft%20construction.xlsx?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4wxm0wvu7lj5zsf/ProtoMech%20construction.xlsx?dl=0

There's individual files for battle armor, BattleMechs, combat vees, aerospace, and ProtoMechs. They're slightly clunky because I added on the AS conversion to existing sheets. While there's construction and BV stuff for small craft in the aerospace file, I haven't added in AS conversion. Again, the process is drop menu heavy but I think if you're just working on AS conversions with 'Mechs and ASF you should be able to just select "4 Clan Energy ER_Medium_Laser LA" instead of having to do each laser individually as with the BV calculations.

Bring on the bug reports!

*Last updated 11/18/16 - 'Mech sheet updated.

[Von Ether]

Big props to you for the work. Nice.

[Xotl]

All right, thanks to Weasley's awesome work I've added structure calcs as well.

I also added a weapon multiplier, so you don't have to select multiples of the same weapon.

[HeavyGun]

Well I am using open office calc program, see the info that is originally there, but don't see any drop down list, I do see a data tab with all kinds of weapon info but no drop down list there either, maybe its the open office calc program or a setting?

[GoldBishop]

Here's how we...

<gasps>
"a peek behind the curtain" ?
<squeals>
<tucks in his shirt, composing himself professionally>

If only I had more time!  Game day is upon me, so I don't get to sit and oogle/admire the processes-that-be.  I can only promise to do so later (in a positive, cooperative, uplifting manner of course).

[Xotl]

Well I am using open office calc program, see the info that is originally there, but don't see any drop down list, I do see a data tab with all kinds of weapon info but no drop down list there either, maybe its the open office calc program or a setting?

It must be open office, I'm afraid.  Mine were made using MS Office 2010.

Also, I added BAR to the armour section.

[Pa Weasley]

Mine were made using MS Office 2013 so I think you'd be equally out of luck. My apologies.

[Alexander Knight]

Mine were made by hand!  :D

[Sereglach]

It must be open office, I'm afraid.  Mine were made using MS Office 2010.

Also, I added BAR to the armour section.

Question . . . why do you have Reactive and Reflective armors listed in your armor section, when according to errata their armor multipliers were removed?  Shouldn't they just be using straight up armor point values?

p97, second and third paragraph (Reflective Armor and Reactive Armor)
remove "multiply its BattleTech armor factor by 0.75, and round up before converting it to its Alpha Strike armor value. In addition to this, "
from both armor types.

[Alexander Knight]

Because neither of us noticed that errata...oops.

[Xotl]

Yeah, corrected version uploaded.

[Sereglach]

This thing is glorious.  It takes over half the effort out of converting a custom mech to AS.  For the most part the only thing left to figure is specials, which is still really easy with the spreadsheet right in front of you.

Speaking of which, I think one of the only improvements that could be made would be knocking out weapon specials (HT, FLK, SRM, LRM, IF) . . . but I see that being a lot of work and headaches.

[NeonKnight]

I've downloaded....but I am using office 2007 and it seems the dropdowns dont work properly????

If I type it the name EXACTLY as it appears on the datalist, it works, otherwise, clicking to use dropdown only has INNERSPHERE WEAPON

Is it possible to save the file as 2007 compatible? Or am I just doing something wrong?

[calendraug]

When I was using Office 2007 before getting 2010 I went on Microsoft.com and nosed around in the downloads section and found a compatibility fix. Might be worth a shot.

[Xotl]

Yeah, I just tried saving it in the old 2003 format and it erased all the drop-down menus altogether.  When I recreated them all, it just erased them again upon closing.

You'll have to search for fixes elsewhere I'm afraid.  Sorry.

[Pa Weasley]

I tried converting some of mine to Excel 97-2003 format and apparently I have too many layers of nesting in my formulas for it to work properly. Sorry.  :-\

Speaking of which, I think one of the only improvements that could be made would be knocking out weapon specials (HT, FLK, SRM, LRM, IF) . . . but I see that being a lot of work and headaches.

Have you tried playing around with the sheets I linked to? Should all be there under the "AS Stats" tab.

Mine were made by hand!  :D

You mean by Mead tablet using a Ticonderoga stylus?

[Sereglach]

I tried converting some of mine to Excel 97-2003 format and apparently I have too many layers of nesting in my formulas for it to work properly. Sorry.  :-\
Have you tried playing around with the sheets I linked to? Should all be there under the "AS Stats" tab.
You mean by Mead tablet using a Ticonderoga stylus?

Ok, I'll need to tinker around with yours, some.  Although the fact that your links kept sending me to a Spanish version of Dropbox was throwing me off.

Now, for yours, does the mech "paper-doll" sheet need to be all filled out to work, or can we just use the dropdowns and fill-ins to make it work?  If I build something once in SSW (because it's stupidly easy) I'd rather not completely rebuild it again if I can just copy the core stats over.

[Xotl]

Yeah, Weasley's do the full deal - if you want everything, definitely use his instead of mine.

EDIT: I won't be doing the damage specials, at least any time soon, as they have a bunch of fiddly exceptions that make them a pain in the butt.

[Pa Weasley]

The "paperdoll" is mostly there for the visual reference. The only time it really comes into play is if you need to armor actuators, which you note by adding "-armored" to the text in the cell in question. Everything else is just drop downs and typing in armor, walking speed, jumping/UMU as needed, additional heat sinks, and tweaking the number of items in each row of the Weapons/Equipment section.

It's also not particularly pretty since I never really intended it to be used by anyone by myself.  ;D

[Scotty]

You shouldn't need to actually specify which components are armoref.  AS doesn't care, and you could probably replace it with an Armored? Y/N field

[nckestrel]

Pa's spreadsheet isn't just for AS conversions.  It does unit construction. It also does AS conversions.

[Pa Weasley]

Yep, as I noted earlier I tacked the AS conversion onto several existing sheets made unit construction and BV checking. Plus there's a yes/no drop box to armor nearly everything else on a 'Mech. If you're just converting stats, you could save yourself a bit of time and just use the "Armor" drop on just, say, a gyro. The sheet gives you the ARM special whether you armor one component or all of them.

[Sereglach]

Yeah, Weasley's do the full deal - if you want everything, definitely use his instead of mine.

But I'll get around to adding the specials and update here reasonably soon.

Thank you, good sir.  Your work is amazing.

Honestly (and no offense to Pa Weasley, as he did amazing work) I'm liking yours more.  I can use SSW to slap a mech together in no time flat; and most of the specials are easily figured out by just looking at whether you have a piece of equipment.  Armor, Structure, Damage, Heat, and Weapon Specials are the only things that can get particularly involving (read:  those are my biggest uses of notebook paper).  Once you get past all of that, PV conversions fall into place reasonably well and are the only major time sink.

The "paperdoll" is mostly there for the visual reference. The only time it really comes into play is if you need to armor actuators, which you note by adding "-armored" to the text in the cell in question. Everything else is just drop downs and typing in armor, walking speed, jumping/UMU as needed, additional heat sinks, and tweaking the number of items in each row of the Weapons/Equipment section.

It's also not particularly pretty since I never really intended it to be used by anyone by myself.  ;D

Thank you for that clarification.  I was looking at that setup and thinking, "I just built a mech in SSW, I don't want to redo it here."

It works really well and does exactly what it was meant to do.  The fact that it's not pretty and was made by yourself, to be used for yourself, does stand out.  I think I'm too much of a neat-freak in some things.

Regardless, it is amazing work and I thank you graciously for sharing it with us.

[Xotl]

Updated to add AES to weapon damage calculations, as per upcoming errata.

[Sereglach]

Updated to add AES to weapon damage calculations, as per upcoming errata.

Thank you for the update.  This thing is wonderful, and greatly appreciated.