Author Topic: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules  (Read 10705 times)

Fear Factory

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These are just thoughts that I have had recently. One thing I know from playing a ton of Alpha Strike games... Vehicles can be pretty powerful. I've been in a situation before where a lance of them gave a lance of 'Mechs hell. Not really a bad thing, but since that game, Vehicles really didn't feel much different than 'Mechs outside of the occasional motive system hit.

Expanded Vehicle Critical Hits

In Total Warfare, Vehicles suffer critical hits (not talking about motive hits, here) more often than 'Mechs. A lot more often, in fact. 2 or 12 on the front and rear tables results in a critical. The side arcs have them at 2, 12, and 9, where they are more vulnerable. Doing it like this is pretty close to the odds of scoring a critical across all 4 vehicle charts (1/12 chance). This does not translate into the rules for Alpha Strike... IMO, this really should, and I think this is a way to do it by adding something to the motive system damage chart:

Code: [Select]
2-8    No Effect**

** A result of 2 or 3 results in a critical hit (do not apply vehicle type modifiers)

So when you roll to check for motive hits, any time you roll a 2 or 3, you then roll on the critical hit table and hope for the best.

This is more in line with how Vehicles work in Total Warfare and gives them a slight de-buff against 'Mechs. There are no extra rolls either since critical hits are tied into the motive hit table. Also, vehicles already get some discounts in conversion, so I don't think any changes to PV would need to happen.

Variable Damage 2.0 (Method 1)

I still feel like the current system for this is pretty weak. I was inspired by DFA's thread and their blog for rolling weapons hits and damage locations. Their method for rolling weapon hits is pretty cool. Essentially, 1d6 (yellow die) is a pilot die, every 1d6 after (different colored/size die) represents a weapon system. The pilot die applies to all weapon die after the roll.

For Alpha Strike, using this method for Variable Damage, it would work like this:

Let's say the to-hit was 7.

- Roll pilot die 1d6 (yellow die) results in a 3.
- Roll 1d6 per damage. Let's say the unit does 3 total damage. Roll 3d6 (white die). Results are 5,2,4.
- The unit combines damage die results with the pilot die. This would be 8,5,7. The unit causes 2 damage.
- For 0*, you would just roll 2d6 for the to hit roll, then roll 1d6 to determine if damage is caused (3+ causes damage). You can probably roll 3 die together. 1 yellow, 1 white, and  1 red as a "minimal damage die").

It sounds complicated, but when you roll some dice, you will see it that it is a lot faster using a dice pool like this when there are a lot of units on the board. It's seemingly better than rolling 2d6 to see if you hit and then rolling #d6 and sorting out the ones that hit. Or better than rolling a pool of d12 or 2d6 per point of damage (other house rules others have used). You no longer need to have the "1 damage minimum" rule as well.

With what I propose hits are more in line with the odds of rolling 2d6/bell curve. The lower the to-hit, the more damage you are likely to do, JUST like in Total Warfare. It also speeds up Variable Damage because hits are more concentrated depending on your pilot die result. If you have a high pilot die you increase your odds of scoring multiple hits. Likewise, if your pilot die is low, you have a lower chance of scoring multiple hits. If you read DFA's blog, it explains how the odds work for Total Warfare... some of that translates here and I feel it works better for Alpha Strike because it retains the focus on speed. The current system for variable damage does this poorly. It requires an extra dice roll and you can score a hit on a low target number and whiff all of your damage by rolling under a 4 on all of your d6 (basically, the odds of flipping a coin). The damage results are independent of the bell curve so you get some strange results.

Also, I would propose that when Variable Damage is in play, it applies to all damage except for Charge and DFA attacks. Currently physical attacks are not lumped in with this. This would also mean you would roll a die for damage bonuses (like for rear and melee attacks).

EDIT: Example, dice are rolled together for each example:
« Last Edit: 30 July 2019, 21:04:09 by Fear Factory »
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Maj. Isaac "Litany" Van Houten, Lone Wolves, The Former 66th "Litany Against Fear" Company

capnbishop

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Re: Alpha Strike: Vehicle Critical Hits and Variable Damage 2.0
« Reply #1 on: 06 May 2019, 10:57:30 »
I tried this variable damage rule with my group last session, we all agreed that it was fantastic. It's now a part of our house rules.

I always found the written rule for variable damage to be ignorable. It effectively halves the damage potential of every mech, reducing the value of heavy hitters and inflating the practival value of their PV.  Your systemy makes more sense, and normalizes damage dealt to the same average throughout the game.

Although damage dealt averages out to the same, this system does make the chance to hit *at all* a lot higher. That can impact the effects of a hit, such as the chance of landing a crit. However, my group and I found this to be a positive impact, because more crits are happening and that makes things more interesting.

Effectively increasing the chance to hit also influences tactical decisions in various ways. Targeting a small mech with a high damage mech seems less wasteful, because you're taking advantage of the high chance to hit at all and take the little bugger out. High damage at long range also has more value for the same reason: maybe you're doing less damage but you're rolling more chances to hit.

The only issue I perceive is how to accommodate certain things like the Lucky SPA (do we reroll the whole thing? Only the dice we choose?  Spend one Lucky point per die rerolled?), or alternate munitions that change damage values (like Inferno ammo). We'll work it out. In any case, we really like this variable damage rule.

Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Vehicle Critical Hits and Variable Damage 2.0
« Reply #2 on: 07 May 2019, 20:22:32 »
I would say just roll the whole thing over. Even with the old variable damage system, you get multiple hits, but it all counts as one for the purpose of determining critical hits and the like.

When using specialty ammo... not sure how different it would be. I would just do the same thing per point of damage. So for infernos, if you have SRM 2/2, just roll your 1 pilot die and 2 damage die.
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Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Vehicle Critical Hits and Variable Damage 2.0
« Reply #3 on: 27 May 2019, 14:10:29 »
Here are a few more thoughs I've had. Expanded terrain was something my group already used and it worked nicely. The only thing we never tried was the Glancing Blow part. We were playing Alpha Strike as more of an RPG so these rules are built from that mindset.

Expanding Terrain with Variable Damage 2.0

     Using the rules above, I was also thinking of a way to make terrain a little more intricate... Mind you, I do hex based play, so features like Light Woods and different depths of water show up. This idea is a play on the glancing blow rule found in Tactical Operations.

Terrain modifiers would look like this:

Code: [Select]
Light Woods     +1
Heavy Woods +2
Depth 1 Water See Partial Cover
Partial Cover +1

     When a unit has Partial Cover or occupies Wooded terrain, ranged attacks made against this unit may cause a "glancing blow." When rolling to-hit, if the 2d6 result is equal to the target number, it is considered a miss just like leg hits in A Game of Armored Combat. To be fair, there is a maximum amount of damage that will miss. The total amount of damage that can miss is the total damage value divided by 2 (rounded normally for water and rounded down for woods). This means that a unit that causes 1 damage can score a glancing blow and not cause any damage, unless it is a woods hex (rounds down to 0). A unit that causes 3 damage can only glance with 2. For Example: A unit that causes 3 damage is firing on a unit with partial cover with a TN of 7. Each result is 7,7,8, which indicates 2 glancing blows. The unit causes 1 total damage. It’s not much of a reduction, but it creates a benefit to utilize terrain outside of stacking modifiers. It also tips the advantage to the unit firing from woods with some extra coverage.

     Water is the only thing that gets unbalanced because it lowers heat and provides partial cover. Movement in water should lower TMM. I was thinking for this, the unit reduces its TMM by 1/2 rounded normally when occupying the hex. This would also be coupled with the "glancing blow" rule. This reduction is almost in line with how movement works in A Game of Armored Combat, but acknowledges how fast units die in Alpha Strike. It also keeps fast movers out of water unless they absolutely need to do so. Heavier or slower designs can take advantage of water giving them an edge against lighter and faster units (specifically those with TMM 1).

     Overall, it may be a little complicated, but I don't think it's much of a slow down. Like the other methods in this thread, there is no extra dice roll.

Movement with Variable Damage 2.0

     This makes targeting more in line with A Game of Armored Combat. When you move you suffer modifiers. Just as an example, I feel the game revolves around units that have a TMM of 1 and skill 4 at the introductory level. In open terrain, you would have a baseline of 8 at medium range. This makes targeting a bit harder which theoretically increases the time it takes to play the game and also makes units less fragile:


Code: [Select]
Stand Still +0
Move +1
Jumped +3

     I feel like this coupled with the other rules in this thread would make things way more interesting and account for some of the Terrain modifier reductions.

EDIT: Redacted. Issues were addressed in the new ASCE!
« Last Edit: 15 July 2019, 21:29:04 by Fear Factory »
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Maj. Isaac "Litany" Van Houten, Lone Wolves, The Former 66th "Litany Against Fear" Company

Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Vehicle Critical Hits and Variable Damage 2.0
« Reply #4 on: 11 June 2019, 23:06:00 »
Variable Damage 2.0 Tough Armor Critical Hits for BattleMechs

Some time ago there was an idea floating around about adding a "floating" or "tough armor" crit to Alpha Strike that sparked a discussion. If I remember, it was determined by a margin of success or when you roll a 12 for your hit. I can't honestly remember which one was prefered. Today, I was thinking how I could apply something like this to Variable Damage 2.0...

Using the same methods for Variable Damage 2.0, use the "minimal die" as the critical hit die. If the unit causes any number of damage to the target, when the pilot die and critical die are both a 6, then roll for a critical hit. If this happens during a hit to internal structure, roll for both. Minimal damage cannot cause a critical hit, but use the same die to determine if it does damage (see the "minimal die" above).

This would be limited to BattleMechs since (above) vehicles already have their own tough armor critical added into the motive chart. It is in line with how BattleMechs work in A Game of Armored Combat. Also, there no extra dice rolls unless you score a critical hit.
« Last Edit: 14 June 2019, 19:02:24 by Fear Factory »
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Maj. Isaac "Litany" Van Houten, Lone Wolves, The Former 66th "Litany Against Fear" Company

Elmoth

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Re: Alpha Strike: Vehicle Critical Hits and Variable Damage 2.0
« Reply #5 on: 12 June 2019, 02:14:30 »
For variable damage, we just make 1 attack roll for each point of damage the mech can cause. So an Atlas rolls to hit 5 times. Works pretty well and is extremely easy as a rule. Makes swamping a light mech with an Atlas or similar quite more sensible than shooting at a jumping Wasp under the normal rules. More shots = more chances to actually hit the bugger, but not with everything. Works for us and makes high damage mechs something to respect, not something you can dodge as easily as the shots of a Locust.

For vehicles we have been talking about this as well. We played a vehicle.-centric campaign and already noticed that they are tougher than what seem s to be the case. We faced another contraint when it comes to vehicles vs mechs: they are extremelyu difficult to transport to a battlefield compared to mechs, and that explaoins the¡ir relative lack of presence in some battles.

In order to make vehicles more brittle but not having to add a new critical system that is just there to make vehicles suck compared to mech, we simply plan to remove all internal damage calculations and extra criticals. Just reduce armor and structure to half (round up) and be done with it. No extra rolls or anything. they are just less resistant than mechs. The lack of resistance takes into account the motive crits and everything else. Reduce the cost of vehicles to 75%, round up.
« Last Edit: 12 June 2019, 02:47:47 by Elmoth »

Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Vehicle Critical Hits and Variable Damage 2.0
« Reply #6 on: 12 June 2019, 08:39:48 »
Rolling for each point of damage is a good idea but complaints arise because you have to keep rolling dice. I suppose you could use a box of doom.... but I've even seen some bickering about that at one point. With 2.0 you're still technically doing that. The only difference is that it's a lot closer to how Alpha Strike works because when you hit with a high pilot die you have a higher chance to do full damage, vise versa. So you're saving time with rolling per point and damage is more precise.

As far as vehicles, it wasn't my goal to make them suck compared to 'mechs... I wanted to make criticals work close to how it works in BattleTech. The chance to score a critical hit per motive check is the same. Vehicles still have their staying power if you roll a 4 or above on the motive check.
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Elmoth

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Re: Alpha Strike: Vehicle Critical Hits and Variable Damage 2.0
« Reply #7 on: 12 June 2019, 09:27:36 »
Well, rollin 2D6 1-5 times in a row is hardly mind breaking stuff that requires a lot of effort....

Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Vehicle Critical Hits and Variable Damage 2.0
« Reply #8 on: 12 June 2019, 12:01:41 »
Well, rollin 2D6 1-5 times in a row is hardly mind breaking stuff that requires a lot of effort....

Trust me, I know. That gets some backlash believe it or not.
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Maj. Isaac "Litany" Van Houten, Lone Wolves, The Former 66th "Litany Against Fear" Company

Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Vehicle Critical Hits and Variable Damage 2.0
« Reply #9 on: 12 June 2019, 12:16:54 »
There is also an ability that my friend Abou came up with that we used in our games... putting it here for reference.

EDIT: I changed this based on Elmoth's idea.

Damage to infantry from non-infantry units cause 1/2 damage (round normally)

MG - A unit that has machine guns, flamers, small pulse lasers, or weapons that provide bonus' against infantry. A unit with this ability causes full damage to infantry in the short range bracket while performing a standard weapon attack. Example: A WTH-1 Whitworth causes 1 damage at short range against infantry because it does not have the MG ability. A PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk causes its full 2 damage because it carries machine guns.
« Last Edit: 12 June 2019, 19:58:39 by Fear Factory »
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Maj. Isaac "Litany" Van Houten, Lone Wolves, The Former 66th "Litany Against Fear" Company

Elmoth

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #10 on: 12 June 2019, 16:09:26 »
Oh, we do it the other way around. If you do NOT have MG, flamers or small lasers you do half damage to infantry. MG, flamers and small lasers just allow you to deal with infantry regularly.

Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #11 on: 12 June 2019, 16:31:14 »
Oh, we do it the other way around. If you do NOT have MG, flamers or small lasers you do half damage to infantry. MG, flamers and small lasers just allow you to deal with infantry regularly.

That's not a bad idea.
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Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #12 on: 15 June 2019, 14:14:03 »
For those who want it, I have the Variable Damage 2.0 system in a PDF. Enjoy.

I threw in the Tough Armor Critical mechanic by using an "effect die":
« Last Edit: 15 June 2019, 14:15:41 by Fear Factory »
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Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #13 on: 17 June 2019, 17:17:11 »
So after trying it out, I don't know if I like it. I think this might be the better route to take... It's basically how Variable Damage is done now but with a few extra things thrown in:

Variable Damage 2.0 (Method 2)

Code: [Select]
- Variable Damage applies to all attacks except DFA and Charge
- Roll TN lock first, then roll damage and effect dice
   1) Roll 2d6 for TN lock/Pilot dice (White)
   2) Roll 1d6 Critical die (Red, Critical Hit on 6 if either TN/Pilot die = 6)
   3) Roll #D6 Damage die (Black, 1d6 per damage point [hits on 3+, 4+ for minimal])
- "One damage minimum" is removed
- Minimal Damage is achieved after a successful TN check (for breaches, etc) if no damage occurs. Mark off half of an armor bubble.
- Critical Hits are only caused if at least 1 point of damage is made

So the idea here is that you roll 2d6 to hit. If you do, your roll your pool of D6 that has your damage dice and one die that determines a tough armor critical. If the critical die is equal to 6, and if one of the TN/Pilot die are also a 6, then you roll for a critical hit on the unit. I think the odds are the same. It doesn't require much thinking and the process is about the same as the current system.

Woods, Water, and Partial Cover

Code: [Select]
- Firing at a target in Woods and Partial Cover: +1 modifier on damage die
- Split woods into Light (+1) and Heavy (+2)
- Partial Cover modifier lowered (+1)
- Depth 1 Water lowers TMM for units that end movement in a water hex (1/2, round normally)

This is super easy to do and it tips the favor into the unit that is using woods for cover. This is something Alpha Strike does not do well (in my opinion). If a unit is targeting another unit in woods, your damage die get a +1 modifier. This means that instead of getting hits on 3+, it's now 4+ (5+ for variable damage). The modifier situation is still the same, where the attacker and defender both suffer it, but it puts a little more behind the unit in the woods hex.

Also, some mods to depth 1 water and partial cover. The unit in water really wins it big, getting a full TMM and given the ability to overheat 1 without any penalty. 1/2 TMM is fair and close to how water works in BattleTech, and giving partial cover the woods treatment still gives the unit in water another advantage to account for TMM reduction. Water is better for slower units, which makes sense, because your fast movers are going to be moving around the map.

Vehicle Critical Hits

Code: [Select]
- When checking for motive hits, a roll of 2 or 3 is a critical hit (no vehicle type mods)
This is just a repost from above. I did like how this turned out. It didn't happen as often as I thought it would, which is a good thing.
« Last Edit: 30 July 2019, 21:05:28 by Fear Factory »
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Vandervecken

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #14 on: 10 July 2019, 14:06:22 »
In the Commanders Edition rules, they now add Critical Hits on a Natural 12. Mentioned here:
https://bg.battletech.com/news/exploring-alpha-strike-commanders-edition/
With this variable damage rule, the odds of a natural 12 go up significantly, as a factor of the number of attack points a Mech has.
A Mech with 6 points of attack will on average score a critical 1/6th of the time.
This might result in a destabilizing effect. Thoughts?

EDIT: Although they're also adding a popular house rule "Separate Attack per point of damage: This has been a popular house rule for a while, and Commander’s Edition adds it as an option."
And I expect that will have a similar interaction with Natural 12 criticals as yours does.
« Last Edit: 10 July 2019, 14:08:21 by Vandervecken »

Scotty

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #15 on: 10 July 2019, 14:36:33 »
Balancing multiple permutations of optional rules against each other is neither easy nor practical.  So we didn't.  "Using these multiple optional rules together unbalances the game" will in all likelihood be met with a resounding "okay".
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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #16 on: 10 July 2019, 15:46:05 »
Oh, so "Crits on 12" is an optional rule also?

Fear Factory

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #17 on: 10 July 2019, 16:33:15 »
In the Commanders Edition rules, they now add Critical Hits on a Natural 12. Mentioned here:
https://bg.battletech.com/news/exploring-alpha-strike-commanders-edition/
With this variable damage rule, the odds of a natural 12 go up significantly, as a factor of the number of attack points a Mech has.
A Mech with 6 points of attack will on average score a critical 1/6th of the time.
This might result in a destabilizing effect. Thoughts?

EDIT: Although they're also adding a popular house rule "Separate Attack per point of damage: This has been a popular house rule for a while, and Commander’s Edition adds it as an option."
And I expect that will have a similar interaction with Natural 12 criticals as yours does.

Each damage point is not a separate attack. It counts as 1 attack, meaning if you hit with a 12 and your unit does 6 damage, hits with 3, it counts as a single hit and causes 1 critical hit. I have a separate effect die determining a critical hit. You need two 6's (1 effect, 1 pilot) to score the hit. Only reason I did this was to separate the crit chance from the to-hit roll. If you want to do the nat12 thing, just don't use the effect die.
« Last Edit: 10 July 2019, 16:37:29 by Fear Factory »
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Vandervecken

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #18 on: 10 July 2019, 16:48:42 »
Ok, so to see if I understand this, let me explain it back to you.
I roll a pilot die, an effect die and X damage dice. If my Unit has a damage value other than 0*, I ignore the effect die unless it rolls a 6. If it rolls a 6 and the pilot die rolls a 6, and at least one damage happens, then there's a crit.
Otherwise just add the pilot die to the various damage dice to check for a hit.
I think I hadn't figured out your tough armor crit thing before.

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #19 on: 10 July 2019, 16:57:15 »
Ok, so to see if I understand this, let me explain it back to you.
I roll a pilot die, an effect die and X damage dice. If my Unit has a damage value other than 0*, I ignore the effect die unless it rolls a 6. If it rolls a 6 and the pilot die rolls a 6, and at least one damage happens, then there's a crit.
Otherwise just add the pilot die to the various damage dice to check for a hit.
I think I hadn't figured out your tough armor crit thing before.

For my first method, you got it. 0* can't score a crit, so the effect die is used to determine if 0* actually causes damage on 3+.

The 2nd method I have is about the same, you just roll 2d6 pilot die to see if you hit, then roll the pool of damage die and the effect die. If the effect die matches a pilot die on 6, you score a crit. I like this method better because I can raise and lower the hit dice TN based on terrain. It gives an advantage to a unit using partial cover or standing in woods, something Alpha Strike really doesn't do.
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Vandervecken

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #20 on: 10 July 2019, 18:55:52 »
I don't really understand this second method. If you're already rolling 2d6 to determine a hit, what use is the effect die? You then have a second stage roll for damage and it just looks like Variable Damage vanilla.

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #21 on: 10 July 2019, 19:00:02 »
Oh, so "Crits on 12" is an optional rule also?

As it turns out, no, that's part of the standard rules.  This is news to me!  I did, however, see that under the "Multiple Attack Rolls" optional rule, that a maximum of one crit can occur using the Natural 12 rule.  While you're correct that multiple attack rolls will result in more crits, and that this may affect some units and situations more than others, I don't think there's any mitigating measures that can be meaningfully taken to prevent that.  Much like bringing units with jump jets to a heavily built up map if your opponent brought none.
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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #22 on: 10 July 2019, 19:06:57 »
I don't really understand this second method. If you're already rolling 2d6 to determine a hit, what use is the effect die? You then have a second stage roll for damage and it just looks like Variable Damage vanilla.

Under the first method, from what I understand, the odds are a bit higher to score hits on units with high TMM's because you are essentially rolling multiple results. I'm not sure how the math checks out with that.

The second one builds off of Variable Damage vanilla. This is because it retains the odds to score a hit in Alpha Strike (rolling once to-hit). The effect die is there to remove the critical hit chance from the to-hit roll. So you can roll a 12 on your to hit roll, but if your effect die isn't equal to 6 (matching with either pilot die), you just score a normal hit. Whether you choose to do that, or just drop the effect die and use the crit on a nat12, is up to you. What is actually different is how damage die work for partial cover and woods. The modifiers remain the same, you just increase the TN for the damage die by 1. I came up with this because under normal rules both units suffer the woods mods on their attack rolls and there is no real benefit to the unit in woods or partial cover. Now the unit gains a bit of cover, because instead of scoring hits on 3+ the attacker has to score hits on 4+. It's a slight tip to the defender or the unit using cover.
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Vandervecken

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #23 on: 10 July 2019, 19:07:10 »
As it turns out, no, that's part of the standard rules.  This is news to me!  I did, however, see that under the "Multiple Attack Rolls" optional rule, that a maximum of one crit can occur using the Natural 12 rule.  While you're correct that multiple attack rolls will result in more crits, and that this may affect some units and situations more than others, I don't think there's any mitigating measures that can be meaningfully taken to prevent that.  Much like bringing units with jump jets to a heavily built up map if your opponent brought none.

Actually this might be better.
In the one-attack roll system, the number of crits is a function of the number of units shooting. Lots of small units, more chances to crit.
In the one attack roll per damage version or the one-pilot die, one damage die version (IMO superior for the simple reason that it's faster, you roll a handful of dice in one go per unit and all you have to do is distinguish one die instead of pairs), the rate of crits is a function of the attack points in your shooting phase.

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #24 on: 10 July 2019, 19:09:59 »
What is actually different is how damage die work for partial cover and woods. The modifiers remain the same, you just increase the TN for the damage die by 1. I came up with this because under normal rules both units suffer the woods mods on their attack rolls and there is no real benefit to the unit in woods or partial cover. Now the unit gains a bit of cover, because instead of scoring hits on 3+ the attacker has to score hits on 4+. It's a slight tip to the defender or the unit using cover.

But you get a similar effect in the simpler one-pilot-die system.
In vanilla variable damage the distribution is more spiky. It's harder to hit a unit in woods, but once you do the damage is the same as a unit in the open.
In the one-pilot-die system the effect of being in a wood is to raise the TN by 1 for each damage die individually, which smooths the distribution in what to me seems the right way.

Vandervecken

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #25 on: 10 July 2019, 19:15:29 »
I would also argue that your #2 version is too complex for Alpha Strike. In your #1 version I roll a handful of dice. One big one (the pilot die) and a bunch of small ones. I only need to distinguish one die from the others.
In your #2 version I need to distinguish a pair of dice from a single die from a bunch of dice. Very fiddly.

Vandervecken

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #26 on: 10 July 2019, 19:28:09 »
Extra thought: I don't think it makes sense to apply variable damage to physical attacks. Non-variable damage is one of the few things they have going for them, that justify the effort of getting in close and forgoing weapons fire. Additionally, in Battletech they don't do variable damage anyway.

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Re: Alpha Strike: Variable Damage 2.0 and Other House Rules
« Reply #27 on: 10 July 2019, 21:13:39 »
Extra thought: I don't think it makes sense to apply variable damage to physical attacks. Non-variable damage is one of the few things they have going for them, that justify the effort of getting in close and forgoing weapons fire. Additionally, in Battletech they don't do variable damage anyway.

I appreciate the feedback. I'm wondering, when the math is done, which method actually works the best. I still don't know which I like better, but #1 is simpler.

Extra thought: I don't think it makes sense to apply variable damage to physical attacks. Non-variable damage is one of the few things they have going for them, that justify the effort of getting in close and forgoing weapons fire. Additionally, in Battletech they don't do variable damage anyway.

Physicals become more viable because they do a flat amount of damage, so that's why I suggested it. Something based off of my own experiences. Also, it's not in the rulebook, but I vaguely remember seeing that using size for damage also accounts for weapons that can still be fired. It's an abstraction, like most things in Alpha Strike.
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