Battletech and Alpha Strike

[Brother Glacius]

Curious if there are any Battletech players still lurking around in Ordo. BT was my very first wargame that I ever got into way back in 1984. I bought my copy from the Green Dragon in Charlestown Mall in SC. I still have that box set and have picked up the various editions as they came out. Well apparently it is doing quite well in the hands of Catalyst games and the new plastic models are fantastic. I just ordered the Alpha Strike box set as that seems like a fun way to do larger scale games without taking a whole day.

Not a fan of the clans and such. I'm more of a 3025 player. But still hoping to find some like-minded players around Portland.

[Ish]

I’ve recently decided to jump into BattleTech, I’ve always been vaguely aware of it and have dabbled, but never did a deep dive. As a teenager, none of my friends were interested in anything other than Warhammer and WH40k. When I was in my twenties, FASA was dead and WhizKids went the clix route and the franchise was sort of stagnant. But it’s recently seen a new surge in popularity, new models, et cetera. Seems like now is s good time to finally jump in.

The Third Succession War seems like the most interesting era to me, but I also see the appeal of the Clan Invasion era. Anything too much after the Battle of Tukkayid just seems kinda “meh,” although I’ve read positive reviews effects new ilClan Era books… 

[Brother Glacius]

I actually spent some time on the wiki to see how the timeline advanced....not sure if I'm a big fan of it. But yeah, 3rd Succession War is my favorite period and the one I'm most familiar with. I also like the environment of technology backslide. Fighting for weapon caches or the hope of finding lost tech...yada yada yada.

Well my AS box just arrived today, so I'm going to dive into that. I'll probably order the Commander's Edition next and Succession Wars card pack to complete it. I like how the lance boxes come with AS cards so nothing extra to buy there.

Will definitely be down to playing at WoW or something in the near future. I know there's some more mech heads lurking somewhere.

[Ish]

@zcaust83seems to be a fan based on his avatar.

[zcaust83]

5 hours ago, Brother Glacius said:

I actually spent some time on the wiki to see how the timeline advanced....not sure if I'm a big fan of it. But yeah, 3rd Succession War is my favorite period and the one I'm most familiar with. I also like the environment of technology backslide. Fighting for weapon caches or the hope of finding lost tech...yada yada yada.

Well my AS box just arrived today, so I'm going to dive into that. I'll probably order the Commander's Edition next and Succession Wars card pack to complete it. I like how the lance boxes come with AS cards so nothing extra to buy there.

Will definitely be down to playing at WoW or something in the near future. I know there's some more mech heads lurking somewhere.

We'll be up at the clubhouse on sunday playing. we're taking clan stuff but I love 3rd succession war Inner Sphere too. any time you want to set up a game, let me know. I also just got the AS box recently, we could pool our buildings together and make a pretty cool board to fight over

[zcaust83]

I have a ton of infantry and vehicles too so we can all do some combined arms scenarios

[Ish]

We’re scrambling to move out of our current house and into a new one… which we haven’t even found yet. So I have zero free time (and even less mental energy) for gaming at the moment.

But hopefully I can get my giant stompy robot on soon.

[zcaust83]

Right on, well I'll be around. Let me know! Good luck with your house! 🤞

[Ish]

So, between the A Game of Armored Combat box set, the Alpha Strike box set, and the random other 'mechs that have been floating around in my bitz box since the early 2000's, I now have an inventory of 38 `mechs. I've also backed the KickStarter, which means another company of 'mechs should be mine in about a year and a half.

I should probably learn how to play this damn game.

[zcaust83]

4 hours ago, Ish said:

So, between the A Game of Armored Combat box set, the Alpha Strike box set, and the random other 'mechs that have been floating around in my bitz box since the early 2000's, I now have an inventory of 38 `mechs. I've also backed the KickStarter, which means another company of 'mechs should be mine in about a year and a half.

I should probably learn how to play this damn game.

any time! I keep everything with me on the chance I get a pick-up game. I can run you through a game any night around 7pm

 

[zcaust83]

I have yet to read my alpha strike manual but I can give it look through this week if you want to get started with alpha strike instead of classic. I do have the alpha strike set as well. I have a lot of 6mm terrain besides the alpha strike set also if you want to play classic with 3D terrain instead of the maps.

[Ish]

I’ve played Classic maybe a half dozen times over the last thirty-odd years (and quite a lot of MegaMek against the computer), but I think I still have a lot to learn.

But, honestly, Alpha Strike just seems more appealing to me. Being able to run a full company versus binary battle in only a few hours instead of the all day affair that it would be in Classic.

But I’m really finding myself loving both games…

[zcaust83]

right on, I'll take a look at the alpha strike rules and then we can schedule a game. are you free next Thursday night, the 13th? I'll be out of town this weekend but I plan to be there Sunday, the 16th as well.

[Ish]

I’m tentatively planning to go to WOW on Thursday and then head up to Mindtaker on the 16th for their BattleTech event.

[zcaust83]

Ok great, I'll be there helping people get started on the 16th so I'll see ya then!

[Kelharis]

Hey guys, I haven't played Battletech since like 1992. I may be able to start coming to some of these. Out of curiosity, do any of you play the rpg side of the game also? I'd love to get in on an rpg/tt group sometime. 

[zcaust83]

2 minutes ago, Kelharis said:

Hey guys, I haven't played Battletech since like 1992. I may be able to start coming to some of these. Out of curiosity, do any of you play the rpg side of the game also? I'd love to get in on an rpg/tt group sometime. 

I just picked up the MechWarrior destiny rulebook actually. Its supposed to be a streamlined rpg/tactics mode of play. I do have two mercenary companies rolled up for the tactical ops rpg also. I can commit to a once a month meet up if you're interested. 

[zcaust83]

[Ish]

I played the second edition of the MechWarrior rpg a couple times back in the Neolithic epoch, but my friends and I mostly stuck to Mekton Zeta for our giant stompy robot roleplay. I’ve read the Destiny rpg and it looks pretty good… I found the ‘Mech combat rules a bit lacking though, at least on paper, I’ve never actually played.

I’ve tried to read the A Time of War rpg, but oi vey, it’s just an incredibly dense system with a terrible book layout! Like, flipping between three or four different chapters just to determine what one rule means. 

The guys over at Penny Arcade recently started a video series where they play a combination of Destiny for the out-of-cockpit parts and Alpha Strike for the stompy robot parts. 

[Kelharis]

I started reading through Destiny last night at work. At first I didn't like how it felt dumbed down, but then realized it would probably be pretty good considering I don't have as much time as I did in college. 

I agree that the mech combat section isn't really what I'd be looking for on the TT, but integrating either of the TT versions shouldn't be too tough. 

[Brother Glacius]

I've always wanted to play in a battletech RPG. That being said, I have no idea how the campaign would actually flow. Lets say only half the party are mechwarriors. When it comes to doing the mech stuff, what are the other players doing? Also, considering the time, effort, and cost of maintaining and repairing a mech, I don't see combats really going down to the wire in most cases right? In typical fantasy, its okay if a character drops because as long as they get healed soon enough, no worries. But if your mech's arm gets blown off, and you've got massive internal damage....you are screwed. Or what if you win the fight, but someone loses their mech in the process? Dispossessed is huge in Battletech. Do you just skirt those sorts of reality in the RPG? Or just make sure that your group has enough support to weather stuff like that?

I also hope to make the battletech event at MM on the 16th. Just not sure at this point.

[Ish]

If I were GM’ing a BattleTech RPG, then I’d probably structure it as a campaign about a mercenary company and use a troupe style of play.

Having the heroes be a mercenary company makes sense to me because everyone wants ‘mech combat to be in the game, otherwise we’d play something else, right? Plus, mercs are notorious for being eccentric personalities drawn from all corners of the galaxy… So if Alice has her heart set on playing a character from the Draconis Combine and Bob absolutely has to play a character from the Deep Periphery, we can make them both fit.

Troupe style play would see everyone create a “main character” and a “supporting character.” So if Alice really wants to play an Ace Pilot as her primary character, she can also play the company’s medic as a guest star in other scenes; If Bob really wants to play the company’s commanding officer, he can play a secondary character as a MechWarrior to fill out the lance.

Think of Battlestar Galactica characters like Admiral Adama and President Roslin were definitely “player characters,” but they weren’t flying Vipers into combat alongside Starbuck and Apollo (the other “PCs”), so you had a bunch of secondary and tertiary pilot characters to fill out the squad. Likewise, supporting characters like Billy and Dualla were there to round out scenes where the focus was on the non-pilot “PCs.”

Mercenaries have to balance the risk of pilot death, ‘mech damage, or (worst of all) destruction of a ‘mech against the potential rewards whenever they take a contract. That’s part of the fun! Negotiating those contracts and managing the finances of the company is a big part of the gameplay… if you want it to be. It wouldn’t be too hard to handwave that sort of thing: “Good game everybody! Your company was contracted to earn $1 million c-bills. After expenses, repairs, paying the rest of the company NPCs and other overhead, each player gets $25,000. You also each get 10 XP. See you guys next Sunday.”

 

[zcaust83]

Merc company is definitely the best way to go imo. Its all about the contracts, negotiations and asset management. To your point @Brother Glacius all the administration and repairs happen after the mission/contract and so essentially everything is resolved before the next meeting. The time of war system incorporates all that but it's a lot of calculations and upkeep. Everyone builds a company and the management of all that is basically the game. I have run a simplified version of this where everyone has a set number of points to build their company and a separate set of points used for unlocking missions/contracts. You win or lose points based on the mission and you use those for repairs after every battle. Its really a cross of the chaos campaign from catalyst and the death from above wargaming modified chaos campaign. If you run out of points and can't complete the contract, then you'll have to take less lucrative one off arena battles on Solaris VII until you build up enough to continue or start a new track of missions. 

[Ish]

Catalyst makes the Chaos Campaign supplement a free download. It’s not terribly complicated, a bit more “between games” bookkeeping than a WH40k Crusade campaign but only about as much as “leveling up” a middle levels D&D5e character.

Having a ‘Mech get truly destroyed –  defined as having its center torso internal structure completely eliminated – is a serious financial hit. You have to acquire a whole new ‘Mech then (and probably a new pilot). All other damage can be repaired between game sessions… for a cost.

Life is cheap, ‘mechs are not.

[zcaust83]

Yup!