A Collection of Time-Saving Hints for Battletech

[Lorcan Nagle]

In my group. the box of death is basically for those times an SRM carrier gets the big hit.

[Weirdo]

Assuming common-sensing it means to convert SRM damage to five point groups, the whole point of these boxes is to eliminate any need for that. Give the box a shake, then start calling out hit locations. Unless that carrier rules REALLY well, doing the damage properly won't take more than a minute, plus crits.

[Colt Ward]

Alright, let me try this again . . .

I have a SRM carrier that surprises a assault mech walking around the corner of a building due to doubleblind/hidden unit whatever- point is, point blank range for the SRM carrier. 

I take the typical box of doom which has 20 different pairs of dice in little boxes inside as demonstrated by the picture.  I tally up my TH requirement and say I need 6s for all 10 SRM6 on that Zeus.  I shake, rattle and roll the box before dropping it an inch to the table which really rattles and bounces everything good.

Now I need to determine how many of the 10 chances I had hit.  I look at the first 10 boxes in the big box of doom.  Let's say 7 out of the 10 boxes had a result of 6 or better so I hit with seven of the launchers.  I pick up and shake the doom box again, maybe give it a twist.  Now I check for results on the 7 SRM6s launchers that hit by taking the first 7 results in the 20 boxes.  Adding up the result from each box by looking at the Missile chart I find that I hit with 29 out of the possible 42 missiles.

Now to determine where the damage goes . . . I take the box.  Shake shake shake the box, do the small drop again and . . . read off the number for each of the 20 boxes to get a hit location.  Once the targeted mech has all that damage assigned by the opposing player, I shake the box again to rattle around the dice.  To finish I read off the first 9 boxes of hit location numbers (7, 8, 4, 12 Oh man woo!, 7, 6, 7, 3, 10) which are then applied by the opposing player.

Instead of having 10 individual rolls for each SRM6 launcher I rolled with the box once.
Instead of having 7 individual rolls to see how many SRMs hit from each SRM6, I rolled the box once.
Instead of having 29 individual rolls to see where each SRM hit for 2 points of damage, I rolled the box twice to generate 29 hit locations.

Now, I will roll those crit chances individually because I find that a bit more fun.

Make it clear?

[Weirdo]

Also, I've never once seen the need to do that with SRMs. ADD all my life, and my attention span is still more than enough for a minute or two of dice rolling.

[Colt Ward]

Now I am confused, 5 point groups?  You mean LRMs?

[Weirdo]

Some people house rule SRM damage to five point groups to save time. I'm not one of them.

[Lorcan Nagle]

Some people house rule SRM damage to five point groups to save time. I'm not one of them.

If you do that, what's the point of SRMs?

[Weirdo]

Search me. That's why I said I'm not one of them.

[beachhead1985]

Alright, let me try this again . . .

I have a SRM carrier that surprises a assault mech walking around the corner of a building due to doubleblind/hidden unit whatever- point is, point blank range for the SRM carrier. 

I take the typical box of doom which has 20 different pairs of dice in little boxes inside as demonstrated by the picture.  I tally up my TH requirement and say I need 6s for all 10 SRM6 on that Zeus.  I shake, rattle and roll the box before dropping it an inch to the table which really rattles and bounces everything good.

Now I need to determine how many of the 10 chances I had hit.  I look at the first 10 boxes in the big box of doom.  Let's say 7 out of the 10 boxes had a result of 6 or better so I hit with seven of the launchers.  I pick up and shake the doom box again, maybe give it a twist.  Now I check for results on the 7 SRM6s launchers that hit by taking the first 7 results in the 20 boxes.  Adding up the result from each box by looking at the Missile chart I find that I hit with 29 out of the possible 42 missiles.

Now to determine where the damage goes . . . I take the box.  Shake shake shake the box, do the small drop again and . . . read off the number for each of the 20 boxes to get a hit location.  Once the targeted mech has all that damage assigned by the opposing player, I shake the box again to rattle around the dice.  To finish I read off the first 9 boxes of hit location numbers (7, 8, 4, 12 Oh man woo!, 7, 6, 7, 3, 10) which are then applied by the opposing player.

Instead of having 10 individual rolls for each SRM6 launcher I rolled with the box once.
Instead of having 7 individual rolls to see how many SRMs hit from each SRM6, I rolled the box once.
Instead of having 29 individual rolls to see where each SRM hit for 2 points of damage, I rolled the box twice to generate 29 hit locations.

Now, I will roll those crit chances individually because I find that a bit more fun.

Make it clear?

But you wouldn't do that with An LRM-20, right? 5-pt groups. right?

[Colt Ward]

Yes, using the example before  . . . really I would only roll for hit locations to get the four at once.

Though I have used a box to determine all the TH rolls for a single mech- say something like the Toyama, roll for the 2 ERLL, LRM15 and LB-10X . . . really, I have to get 6 or more TH rolls to really start using it.

[Weirdo]

But you wouldn't do that with An LRM-20, right? 5-pt groups. right?

5-point groups for LRMs, 2-point groups for SRMs, y'know, the way it actually goes in the rulebook. Nobody has advocated using dice boxes to completely change the way cluster weapons deal damage.

[GoldBishop]

It's been a while since I played Classic, but I definitely stand by my BBoD (and the cluster hits currently "as is" with HAGs and LRMs in clusters of 5, LB/Flak/RAC/SRMs as single hits)

2/3 pilot in a Turkina E  (1 HAG40, 6 SSRM6) shooting at a Berserker that had recently shut down due to overheat issues (already running hot for TSM, Loki D hit him with Plasma Cannons...  guy rolled snake eyes on to avoid Shutdown).  Needless to say, everything hit  >:D

Rolled like crap for the cluster hits on the HAG (Medium range for 24 total damage, 4 locations at @ 5 pts, 1@ 4 dmg).  Rolled those manually, which included a head hit for 5, but the rest sandpapered both arms and a leg.

Then came the 36 locations for 2 damage each.  Enter the BBOD.
Realizing - with the head hit that round for 5 points - I announced aloud that I only needed to score 4 head hits for the kill.
<shake shake shake shake shake>
<set>
36 pairs of dice for 36 locations exactly.  Scored 6 head hits, 7 TAC, and the rest pretty much chewed out the right torso (through the arm).
I had elected to roll the TACs manually, but the player just shredded his paper and removed the mini from the table.

With two other players at the table - none of which were wielding cluster weapons - I was asked to not use the box (for fear of cheating).  Of course, I obliged... but the next attack by my Turkey hit with 5 Streaks, and we spent quite a few long minutes rolling 30 locations, marking damage, rinse, repeat.  (Gamemaster broke out his MagicTheGathering Life counter to count for us because we lost track, twice).  In the end, 3 head hits and a TAC to an ammo bin = long awaited kill scored (same opponent).  With enough ammo and armor, I went on to a third kill  but didn't roll for the missiles because the HAG went internal on an InnerSphere side torso with an XL engine (though, based on the damage output alone, it would have popped every last bubble).

Whether I use 36 boxes or 12, having my BBoD is a timesafer and enemy maker.

[Ice_Trey]

Memorize the hit location tables. At the very least, the front/rear hit location tables.

Seriously. You learn that, you've effectively halved how much time each game takes.

Most of the players who I've seen complain about a game length are the ones who can't go without a cheat-sheet. I didn't learn overnight, but the less you need to reference the book and tables, the much faster the game becomes.

That, and don't bog the game down with making "The perfect" move. Something like a chess timer to force the other guy to move in a reasonable amount of time will likely speed things up by massive amounts. I don't really mind, but the games often slow down dramatically when hex-counting starts coming into effect.

[Colt Ward]

Hmm, in that vein, one thing that you might do would be to send the teams out of earshot for 5 minutes at the start of the game once initial placement happens, objectives and victory conditions are all clearly stated again.  Both sides can then plot out how/what they are going to do for opening moves and what mechs might need to move last (for hex counting purposes).

When I have played with my group there is no strict 'orders' but there is a agreement how everyone will use what they have to achieve the objectives to include what special equipment (TAG) they may have along to contribute on someone else's forces.

[Fireangel]

Speeding up the game:

Fire sticks.

Take wooden popsicle sticks (available in school supply places), cut then in half and put little points on them. Colour/design code them for each unit you have; one per weapon in the unit. As you declare fire, place the stick representing the weapon that unit is using next to the target(s); not only does it make it perfectly clear who is shooting what at whom, but it also indicates clearly the angle of attack. As you resolve the attacks, remove the sticks from the board.

Side benefit: Speeds up the game a considerable degree. Especially when combined with movement dice. Particularly in large engagements.
Down side: Increases prep time a bit. Storage issues.

[beachhead1985]

Speeding up the game:

Fire sticks.

Take wooden popsicle sticks (available in school supply places), cut then in half and put little points on them. Colour/design code them for each unit you have; one per weapon in the unit. As you declare fire, place the stick representing the weapon that unit is using next to the target(s); not only does it make it perfectly clear who is shooting what at whom, but it also indicates clearly the angle of attack. As you resolve the attacks, remove the sticks from the board.

Side benefit: Speeds up the game a considerable degree. Especially when combined with movement dice. Particularly in large engagements.
Down side: Increases prep time a bit. Storage issues.

I dunno...with my friends they might really enjoy dumping a load of Popsicle sticks on the table

[mbear]

Speeding up the game:

Fire sticks.

Take wooden popsicle sticks (available in school supply places), cut then in half and put little points on them. Colour/design code them for each unit you have; one per weapon in the unit. As you declare fire, place the stick representing the weapon that unit is using next to the target(s); not only does it make it perfectly clear who is shooting what at whom, but it also indicates clearly the angle of attack. As you resolve the attacks, remove the sticks from the board.

Side benefit: Speeds up the game a considerable degree. Especially when combined with movement dice. Particularly in large engagements.
Down side: Increases prep time a bit. Storage issues.

Smaller diameter dowel rods or brass tubing from a hardware store works pretty well too. FWIW, I've found the Medium Laser fire stick the most useful as it's not only the medium laser stick, but the SRM stick and the PPC stick (if you use it twice by flipping it end for end). The square rods work a little better IMHO because they don't roll around when not in use.

[iamfanboy]

Y'know, I made dowels for Alpha Strike, and even though it's supposedly easier, we found ourselves busting out tape measures anyway as they're used for movement AND finding range.

In Battletech, I'd think they'd be even worse, as counting hexes is more important than the actual distance involved.

[Fireangel]

The best thing about popsicle sticks is that they don't roll around and are easy to write on, identifying not only the weapon it represents, but the unit that fired it.

Fire sticks are never used to measure distance... they're too short (a little over two inches long).

Since they are flat, you can also stack them neatly when you pour on the lance's  lovin' into one enemy unit.

They are also cheap; you can get 200-packs for $1 in some places. Heck, they sell them in assorted colors, which cuts prep time.

[StoneRhino]

Memorize the hit location tables. At the very least, the front/rear hit location tables.

Seriously. You learn that, you've effectively halved how much time each game takes.

Most of the players who I've seen complain about a game length are the ones who can't go without a cheat-sheet. I didn't learn overnight, but the less you need to reference the book and tables, the much faster the game becomes.

That, and don't bog the game down with making "The perfect" move. Something like a chess timer to force the other guy to move in a reasonable amount of time will likely speed things up by massive amounts. I don't really mind, but the games often slow down dramatically when hex-counting starts coming into effect.

The "perfect move" has to be the biggest time sink of the game possible. Memorizing the hit table would be nice and reduce the time taken, but this can easily be fixed by having the attacker roll the location and say what number they rolled for location while another person has the table in front of them and then relays what location it was, while the defender marks down the damage. It isn't perfect, but there are times I can barely remember stuff due to the amount of stuff I am normally trying to remember for school.  :P

The perfect move syndrome is something that there is little to do about since only the player making the move can decide to finally make their move. Years ago I realized how much time is taken up by everyone trying to make perfect moves. It helps to avoid problems, but it kills the game time available. I then decided to attempt to speed up my moves and live with it. If I made a mistake and paid for it then I would go home with that mistake bugging me, which led to trying to figure out how to avoid such a problem in the future. I think I am better for pushing myself to make moves faster and then learn from what I did instead of spending a lot more time considering everything several times over.

I believe it shifts the learning of what to do from off times as opposed to trying to learn on the spot during the game. Its one thing if you have time for a game a week or more, but when its every other week at best then having everyone attempting to make the perfect move leads to very few turns, and those turns are rarely the ones that matter. I have noticed that people tend to focus on moves that they perceive to matter the most, yet the opposing player may have already decided that the unit being move does not matter at all and will not bother with it.

[Highball]

"Perfect Move" can be easily solved by using a 30 or 60 second sand hourglass. If they do nothing by the time the sand runs out then you do not move. Makes games run much faster.

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

  Time saver:

Assistant GMs -My club is lucky to have several people who have the location and mod tables memorized so they help the mathematically challenged players (we have plenty of them) figure net TNs and help adding die results without having to count their toes... Assistant GMs help, especially with larger battles with 4-5 unit commanders per side, so the GM doesn't have to be everywhere.

Appoint overall commanders per side. I've had campaigns where NOBODY wanted to be in charge. It happens. As a GM, I have the players select their commander...or I will pick the worst of them... The overall commander is held responsible in making sure his subordinates don't waste the GM's time. He makes sure the players make their moves, pick their targets and complete combat in a timely manner in order to keep the game moving smoothly. Failure to perform incurs penalties, such as forfeited moves/shots or adverse initiative modifiers in subsequent turns.

Plenty of training scenarios. Few things slow down play like unfamiliarity with the rules and the flow of play. These things reduce player confidence and the ability to be decisive. I have my veteran players evaluate other players and if we believe training will improve performance, we design scenarios specifically aimed at working on weaknesses. we have one player that NEVER learned how to properly use TSM; He just didn't have the discipline during combat, even though my veteran player used colored pens to highlight which weapons to use while walking, running and jumping in order to maintain the proper heat -The guy always fired too many weapons and lost the TSM sweet spot, dspite taking an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out the numbers in his head...and no amount of training helped. We never let him use TSM ever again. Problem solved.

[Fireangel]

  Time saver:

<snip>

Appoint overall commanders per side.

<snip>

Not for every group; I've seen some groups where that is... not a good idea.

[cavingjan]

"Perfect Move" can be easily solved by using a 30 or 60 second sand hourglass. If they do nothing by the time the sand runs out then you do not move. Makes games run much faster.

To help with the transition, give each side X number of extra times. It helps if you have a really tricky move without giving too much time to the rest of the units.

[lordnlkon]

Doing a thread resurrection to see if there are any new ideas out there for speeding things up. Going to be running A Time of War campaign with classic for mech combat for my gaming group and their only concern is how long classic takes. I have no desire to run it in alpha strike.

[Daryk]

Engagement size is the fastest way to speed things up.  Lance on lance is faster no matter how good or tricky you are...

[Failure16]

To help with the transition, give each side X number of extra times. It helps if you have a really tricky move without giving too much time to the rest of the units.

That was MFNA's answer, if I recall correctly. Certain number of minutes per lance. But it's been a loooong time, so I could be misattributing.

[lordnlkon]

Engagement size is the fastest way to speed things up.  Lance on lance is faster no matter how good or tricky you are...

Yeah planning on running it just lance level mostly.

[Daryk]

Then time shouldn't really be a concern for you... :)

[lordnlkon]

Then time shouldn't really be a concern for you... :)

It still does. These are mostly d&d players, so normal classic combat is still going to be very long for them. We did some introductory combat and that was their one complaint.