Strictly speaking, I'm talking about game-play mechanics and how they are so alien to each other. My penchant for cross-overs got me thinking of a means of emulating the MechWarrior Dark Age game mechanics with IWM minis on BT map sheets.
This is a work in progress and not complete yet. As such, I am open to suggestions and comments while I finalize things.
For this version, I'm pursuing the notion that the stats are scale with the stated MW:DA miniatures scale - N-scale (1:160).
Note: At N-scale, a 30m hex (100 feet) is roughly 7.5 inches. I'm rounding down to 7 for neatness.
Looking at standard foot infantry as the basis for movement, I have found that means that a turn cycle, where each player takes his/her turn once, is actually a full ten seconds. So, for time scale one AlT turn is also 10 seconds.
Playing Field: On BT maps, at roughly Z-scale for Ral Partha/IWM standard BT minis, a BT 30m hex is roughly 4 map hexes. (I do this for ease, even though the stated official scale is 1:285. I can find more Z-scale stuff to supplement my BT stuff with and I like the slightly larger infantry.)
I refer to these as Z-hexes.
(It's a simple matter of treating stuff on a map as being true to scale. So, a woods hex is probably an actual tree or a bunch of small ones. DA stats on this scale (1/160) is not too far off from Z scale (1/220). If you want to find how many actual inches would fit inside 4 Z-hexes, feel free. I'm going for simplicity.)
Treat things on a 1-for-1 basis. So, one inch of DA movement is one Z-hex. One inch of DA range is one Z-hex.
Arcs are standard BT Arcs. (You can go with a Heavy Gear Front arc for all the 180 front arcs for most DA Mechs, and shrink the 90 degree rear arc to the 60 degrees allowed by a hex if you want.)
For resolving random events, the DA 3d6 dice mechanic applies.
Movement follows all standard BT movement rules and MP expenditure point costs on a hex-by-hex and elevation-to-elevation basis, regardless of scale. Treat them as if they were on a standard map.
Stacking: There is no stacking unless units are on different elevations that don't overlap with another unit. Example: a VToL flying at Level 2 cannot occupy a Mech on a level 0 hex as it normally would in BattleTech.
I want a conversion from the defense and attack values to a to-hit mod, sans range and movement modifiers. To do that I need to assume that 8, 9, or 10 attack is equal to 4 gunnery, and go from there. For me, I look at 8 attack as on the green side since that was the average at the start of the game line, and things went up from there as conflict progressed, and placed 4 gunnery at the 10 mark. (You may change that for your own games.)
Defense is interesting, as movement doesn't play a part in the actual value. It makes sense when your game is actually only playing out on 5 x5 BattleTech Hex grid. However, the mass of armor does seem to have some effect. This means that the ClickTech combat system is more reminiscent of modern combat with heavier armor making it harder to cause internal damage, which is what I interpret clicks of damage to be. So, instead of having range and movement modifiers, I'm going to apply a single armor modifier to the to-hit roll based off gunnery.
A normal DA attack is simply rolling 3d6, adding the attack value, and comparing it to the defense. So, flat out on 3d6, you'd need the Defense - Attack to cause damage. I'm going with ten attack, so all the defense values would need to subtract ten. This needs to be modified so that it will be the final result once you add the armor mod to a 4 gunnery.
At the ranges involved in a normal DA game, movement and range modifiers do not apply. Instead every unit gets an armor modifier that all attackers apply to their gunnery when making an attack. Aimed shots on other locations may not have to apply this. Each location will have a distinct armor modifier that applies to aimed attacks. In either case the armor modifier can be manipulated by weapon traits and arc modifiers.
The final mods, by defense, are as follows:
23 = +9
22 = +8
21 = +7
20 = +6
19 = +5
18 = +4
17 = +3
16 = +2
15 = +1
14 = +0
13 = -1
12 = -2
While I've seen defenses as high as 24, those were heavily modified with gear and conditional modifiers which aren't part of the base defense, which I'm not going to deal with. They can simply be added on as normal. I haven't seen a defense lower than twelve, and that's on nearly dead infantry or vehicles.
Damage is a different matter. I haven't cemented anything yet, but, I'm following the idea that Mechs in the AlterniTech Dark Age setting have tied systems which are fragile to feedback from damage. I personally think that all shots are being zeroed in on the center of the Mech, with no chance for straying to appendages. However, I was looking at a few vehicles, and the clicks some vehicles have exceed the amount of internal structure that have on any one location. So, I know I'm going to be applying a point modifier of sorts. Maybe double. Maybe x10. Not sure yet. This will allow for a finer scale of damage and allow for more detail.
Crits I want to be random. However, with no shots going limbs or odd locations, applying them so that a person gets motive damage, and weapon damage, and stuff like that will recall a crit transfer style system. I'm still working on that one, but I figure a lot of it would have to do with damage to the power plant.
Heat is interesting. A lot of Mechs in DA don't have much in the way of shutdown checks until late in the dial. This suggests to me one of two things: A) some ammo and shutdown rolls are considered auto successes. Or, there's a certain point on a normal BT heatscale where shutdown is automatic when it shouldn't be. I'm going with the latter.
More to come as I work things out. Comments and suggestions welcome.
Integrating with normal BattleTech
AlterniTech is based around the assumption that the WizKids MechWarrior Dark Age universe went down a different technological path than BattleTech. In the AlterniVerse, the armor and defensive technologies are more deflective in nature, and not necessarily ablative. However, refinements have reached a point where the base range is much shorter for AlterniVerse weaponry. Longer ranges are significantly difficult because the degree of power loss and focus of firepower are significant enough beyond that point as to be completely ineffective against the armor.
As such, all standard BattleTech weapon ranges retain their range in hexes on a Z-hex map without alteration. However at this scale, all non-conventional infantry units have an absolute minimum range of 2 for their weapons. On the flip side, all physical attacks made by standard BattleTech units have a range of two hexes.
A Z-hex is 7.5 meters, or 1/4 a standard BT hex.
A AlT turn is 10 seconds. So, all MPs for standard BattleTech units are multiplied by 4. That's right. Even the most basic relic of the 3rd succession war is a speed demon on an AlT playing field.
Cross Universe Combat
When dealing with AlterniTech units, a BattleTech unit has all the mechanics that another AltherniTech unit has to face against it. BattleTech units apply the armor modifier. They ignore movement modifiers, both target and attacker, when determining to-hit numbers for attacks. Range modifiers still apply.
On a successful hit, no location roll is necessary as the damage automatically hits an AlterniTech unit's core. BattleTech units may declare an attack against specific locations on an AlT unit with a +1 to-hit modifier (+4 for the head). A miss is a miss. A success strikes the intended location with no extra roll necessary save for critical hits from internal damage.
Since standard BattleTech damage is on a different scale than that of AlterniTech, all damage is multiplied by [not available yet]. This is before armor gear damage modifiers are applied to the damage total.
When dealing with BattleTech units, an AlterniTech unit has all the mechanics that another BattleTech unit has to face. AlterniTech units are subject to BattleTech movement modifiers, both attacker and target, when generating to-hit numbers against a BattleTech target.
On a success, a random location must be rolled using the standard BattleTech Damage location tables with standard BattleTech damage resolution rules. AlT units may never aim at a specific location unless they have a Targeting Computer or the target is immobile. All standard BattleTech modifiers and rules apply in those instances.
Damage from an AlT attack on a BT unit is cut by [not available yet].
