BattleForce Random Army Generation?

[bsilver]

First, a quick history: I started playing BT back in the day with the 4th Edition box set. My buddy and I used to flip through some of the old TROs and the Battletech Master Rules (revised), but never really implemented any of it. I haven't played for a really long time, but really loved the universe and came back to it via the BattleForce quick start rules. I wanted faster gameplay, so I bought Strategic Ops with the hopes of playing relatively quick combined-arms scenarios. I've looked at SSW's QuickStrike Printer (QSP), but I was wondering if there is a quick and easy way to build some balanced forces for play various scenarios on the 4th Edition intro mapsheets? I don't have the knowledge to be able to build interesting forces from the master unit list (or related software) alone. Does anyone have some recommended starting armies and/or scenarios that give some combined-arms flavor but don't take much more than an hour to play? Are their sources for prebuilt BattleForce-focused scenarios that wouldn't require conversion from older rulesets or scales? Thanks!

[Moonsword]

Welcome to the boards!

Xotl's RATs are probably the most comprehensive materials for the Succession Wars, which were largely fought with introductory rules.  You might also want to look at worktroll's Army Reports for a better guide to the early factions.

For other periods, you might try the Era Reports or Field Manuals but RATs are not really guaranteed to produce balanced forces, just producing "flavorful" ones quickly.

If you ever need something specific vetted for either factional accuracy or "Is this balanced?", posting here is usually a good way to get an answer.  The MUL will also let you total forces up and compare BV, but that's a loose guideline, not a straitjacket.

[bsilver]

Has anyone taken a stab at converting the Galtor Campaign to current BF units and rules? I downloaded a copy from BattleCorp ($5) hoping to see exact unit lists, but instead it gives them in more general terms, and I'm not sure how to convert the "strength rating" for each unit type to an equivalent point value in the current ruleset, or even better, just an exact unit list for each side.

[Moonsword]

http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2402

This is the closest they've done.

[bsilver]

Does it have BattleForce unit listings or just BT?

[bsilver]

Okay, so here's what I've been up to: I've taken a couple companies from two different armies listed in Galtor Campaign, and converted them to unit lists from the RAT given in the HTP: Galtor (preview at http://bg.battletech.com/wp-content/uploads/10%20Previews/CAT35620_HTP%20Galtor_Preview.pdf). I was trying to build ~150 pt forces per side, but wanted each to have mechs and aerospace, so I had to add a couple DC aero elements (Final BV: DC 159 pt, FS 165 pt). Additionally, I didn't bother adding in the special equipment each company was supposed to be equipped with (see Galtor Campaign, p38 and p52). The zip file contains the .BFB files for the aero and mech companies created for each force. Since Solaris Skunkwerks SQP doesn't print StratOps pages correctly, I've also included PDF scans of hand-bubbled StratOps record sheets, complete with scratched-out errors. I didn't bother blacking out all of the armor and structure bubbles, so just read from left to right for the correct number of A/S points. The forces are:

Draconis Combine (159 pt total)
11th Benjamin Regulars
2a: O'Connor's Air Squadron [modified] (36 pt)
5a: Swift's Battalion, Scole's Company (78 pt)
5c: Swift's Battalion, Lang's Company (45 pt)

Federated Suns (165 pt total)
Raman Draconis March Militia
2a: Holloway's Air Company (36 pt)
3b: MacNeill's Battalion, Bereg's Recon Company (46 pt)
3c: MacNeill's Battalion, Jeremy's Light Company (83 pt)

I'll update this zip file if and when I convert more companies, but feel free to share any .BFBs and/or StratOps record sheets, no matter what era, that are ready for play. Enjoy!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/85670932/galtor_ver001.zip

[sfsct]

Thats pretty cool.  Thanks.

[nckestrel]

Here's a few I did a while ago, based on scenario books.  (The first three units were non-canon home campaign units. 1st Drakons, Blue Comets, Vikentij's Vixens.)

Excel version
PDF version
SUCCESSION WARS   
   Sorenson's Sabres, 5th Sword of Light 3022
   Fox's Teeth, 7th Crucis Lancers 3022
   Black Widow Company, Wolf's Dragoons 3022
   Rolling Thunder, 1st Regulan Hussars 3022
   Waco Rangers, Noble's Assault Battalion, Henry's Support Company 3022
   Eridani Light Horse, Pelham's Company 3022
   Wolf's Dragoons, Woomack's Company 3022
   Lyran 2nd Armor Brigade 3022
   Stapleton's Iron Hand, 1st Battalion, 1st Company 3028
   Gray Death Legion 3028
WAR OF 3039   
   Sorenson's Sabres, 5th Sword of Light 3036
   Fox's Teeth, 7th Crucis Lancers 3038
CLAN INVASION   
   13th Wolf Guards Cluster, Trinary Alpha 3052
   Black Thorns 3057
   Iron Guards Galaxy, 33rd Assault Cluster 3059
   Kingston's Legionnaires 3059
   1st Knights of the Inner Sphere 3059
JIHAD   
   Sorenson's Sabres 3070
   Fox's Teeth 3071
   Black Widow Company 3072
   Opacus Venatori 3072

[bsilver]

Fantastic! This is a marvelous assortment! Thanks so much!

EDIT: I'm intrigued by the random generation page at the back of the excel sheet. Is this still being developed? Or do I need a newer version of Excel? I'm looking at it with Office 2003, but it appears to be referencing another file.

[nckestrel]

I just use Solaris Quickstrike Printer now, so I stopped development of the Excel sheet a while ago.
Basically I took Xotl/BigDuke's random army generator, and made a lookup to grab BF stats for what it rolled.  Now I would just use their random unit generator and type the results in to Solaris Quick-Strike Printer (part of Solaris Skunk Werks).
Xotl's RATs are linked in my signature.

[bsilver]

So I've decided that my eventual goal will be to build some relatively balanced unit "modules" that can be mixed and matched to form different types of combined arms forces. Players can choose a force point value and total number of units, grab the required number of pre-filled record sheets, pick a scenario, and play. In the mean time, I've developed an Excel spreadsheet that can be used for tracking points scored for kills, deaths, and objective/HQ captures and occupations. The file can be found here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/85670932/bfscoreboard_001.xls In addition, I've played one game of Capture the Flag (CTF) using the following rules (forces consisting of 2 mech units, one hovertank unit, and two infantry units totaling ~118 pts each worked quite nicely):

Capture the Flag (An Extraction Scenario Sub-type)
Place two mapsheets long edges touching each other, and each DZ taking one long edge of the original mapsheet. Place one HQ in the middle of each DZ. 2 "flags" (objective counters) are placed as desired by the defending side in their DZ, provided that the flags are at least 5 hexes from each other. Flags are picked up by capturing the hex (occupying for two consecutive end rounds without moving away) and are carried by the capturing unit. The flag is carried until the unit is killed and the flag is dropped or the unit successfully brings it back to their home HQ, scoring points for an objective capture. Points for occupying the flag (ie entering hex for only one end round and not successfully picking it up) can be scored once per flag. Enemy HQs cannot be occupied or captured and exist only as a scoring hex for captured flags. Play for as many rounds and/or flag captures as desired.

[bsilver]

EDIT: See this thread for the most up-to-date version: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,21623.0.html

Essentially, it works as follows: separate pre-filled standard Strategic Operations BattleForce record sheets into individual units and then mix-and-match to create armies of the desired size. When creating new unit modules, label the earliest year that all elements would be available so that players can set year-based technology caps. I envision this as a system that can easily be expanded by people that want to post individual pdfs of record sheet(s) containing new units. So long as all of the requisite information is filled out (point totals, weights, year), it is easily added to the pool of draftable units for the sake of force creation. In long term, it could be slightly easier than drafting completely new forces for each game. Eventually, I hope to have some play tested units that can be packaged together like the prototype and provide a quick-setup version of BattleForce that can easily be expanded to advanced play and used across all eras.

EDIT: See this thread for the current version: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,21623.0.html