Personally, I like abstracted battlefield support, and have tended to make up my own rules for it when the system didn't provide them. I was a big fan of what happened with Aerospace on the ground map in the current version of Alpha Strike, as well as the basic artillery rules. I liked having Aero and Arty in my games sometimes, but didn't really want to include them in the way that TW or original Alpha Strike provided for. I didn't want bombs or arty to take over the game, but I wanted indirect fire as a way to help balance out really fast units without having to rely on low-skill pilots. Having similar low-effort battlefield support options in TW is something that a player like me could use.
But why? Do I hate the full TW rules? No. Do I think they are needlessly complicated or poorly balanced? Not really. They are about the same level of detail as other systems in TW. Am I just lazy? Yes, but that isn't why I don't like to use the full rules. So why then? It's a brain-space issue for me. I have accepted that I am only capable of keeping a certain amount of rules information 'active' in my brain at any given time. No matter how simple or intuitive rules are individually, once I get to the point of having to remember a certain number to execute a game turn, I start forgetting things. I can only keep track of so many things in my head at one time, and when it comes to TW, I have room for Mechs, basic terrain, and usually Combat Vehicles. When I try to add more systems to the game than that, I can't do it all by memory and I need help. That is just my personal limit on how many rules I can handle by memory without having to do constant rulebook references. Everyone has a different brain-space limit, and I think these slimmed-down versions of things that are more detailed versions in TW are meant for folks like me who just can't keep track of enough in our heads anymore, or who simply aren't interested in devoting the brain-space necessary for the full rules. If someone else can handle more rules than I can, that's fantastic! Unfortunately, I generally only get to see and play with people from this board once, maybe twice a year at GenCon or Origins, so I can't rely on you big-brains to remember all the details for me!
Honestly, that is one of the big things that drew me to Alpha Strike: The basic game rules were much simpler so I had more room in my head for adding in units and systems that I wouldn't normally try to play in TW. I don't use Arty in Alpha Strike just because the Arty rules are easier. I use it because EVERYTHING is easier and I can now manage to remember the arty rules at the same time as the basic parts of the game. Another thing that helps me are game aids. Cheat-sheets, status tokens, stat trackers, things like that. These days I just have too many things to remember, and I need more help keeping track of game rules. If you can put artillery and bombing/strafing runs onto a playing card for me, I'm interested. While I would certainly LIKE to play with the TW rules for arty and aero (and I do in MegaMek where it does the remembering for me), I've had to accept that it is more than I can manage these days without spending more time than I want doing rules lookups. It isn't a failing of the game system, just the reality of my poor, aging brain. While I still consider TW to be the baseline for BattleTech rules, I also greatly appreciate the simplified options that CGL has produced in the last decade. I personally need things like this new card deck to help me include the flavor we see in the fiction into a ruleset that I can remember well enough to feel competent playing. Of course, that is just me.
