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Ok, have now used the angry dustbins a few times, have to say.. they are not as bad as they look.

Ran a quartet of UM-R60L, 2/2/0 damage profile. yes they are easy to hit, and with 3/2 damage not that hard to kill, but a clan mech doing 3 damage at range doesn't drop them in one shot and as my opponent discovered as they lumbered up the mid field ignoring them is a mistake as when they get close its potentially 8 damage, likely less, but unlikely to be nothing in a way a mech with a damage profile of 8 can be (single dice for all weapons here into one target)

and then when they do get close, its four of them, so they are quite hard to one shot kill that firepower.

and its 44 points for all four, so less than a typical good mech, especially a clan one.

Eventually he will start to pop them at range early on, but hasn't yet.

also when they are damaged if forced to withdraw the low movement means they are still taking pot shots late on.

tempted to actually drop them to skill 3 given its cheap enough to do on them.

they are also pure comedy gold in objective based games

Anyone used an Annihilator (otherwise know as four UrbanMechs in a trench coat)?

Did a proper gallery of the last two Alpha Strike 10mm games we played.
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/2024/03/gallery-two-alpha-strike-games/

leopard wrote:
Ok, have now used the angry dustbins a few times, have to say.. they are not as bad as they look.

Ran a quartet of UM-R60L, 2/2/0 damage profile. yes they are easy to hit, and with 3/2 damage not that hard to kill, but a clan mech doing 3 damage at range doesn't drop them in one shot and as my opponent discovered as they lumbered up the mid field ignoring them is a mistake as when they get close its potentially 8 damage, likely less, but unlikely to be nothing in a way a mech with a damage profile of 8 can be (single dice for all weapons here into one target)

and then when they do get close, its four of them, so they are quite hard to one shot kill that firepower.

and its 44 points for all four, so less than a typical good mech, especially a clan one.

Eventually he will start to pop them at range early on, but hasn't yet.

also when they are damaged if forced to withdraw the low movement means they are still taking pot shots late on.

tempted to actually drop them to skill 3 given its cheap enough to do on them.

they are also pure comedy gold in objective based games

There's quite a lot to be said for a cheap, disposable lance in your force. I've been tinkering with vehicles for that purpose, ran 2 bulldogs and 2 vedettes. They were far more trouble than their 70 points would indicate.

I may drop the bulldogs for something a little faster, like galleons, because the Vedettes were surprisingly mobile. They'd be cheaper too.

yes, the way the game works activation spam isn't really a thing but the value in something thats more trouble than its worth to remove but will be trouble if you don't is excellent.

found two were good late game, even as they were falling back at what passes for top speed (as they take ages to actually depart)

had one combat mech, facing two lighter clan ones with more mobility, the dustbins managed to spat a clanner to was jumping behind the larger one and staying there nipping at its heels

2 damage at medium range for 11 points is not that bad, they may be easy to hit themselves but they hit you just as well as anything else with 2 damage at that range

Yeah, I am looking forward to getting vehicles on the table at my local store, for the same reason. I have various beefy tanks like Manticores and Pattons for my two different forces, but I am especially interested in trying out my several Saracen/Scimitar/Saladins, with their TMM3 each. Not much for armor and structure, but you have to hit them first while they peck away at you. Or even worse, the pair of J. Edgars (TMM 4) I just painted up for my Lyran force.

Battletech Alpha Strike is Awesome Too thread, where have you been all my life?

I've only played once or twice, but it was really fun. I have piles of wizkids mechs etc, all rebased on clear acrylic bases. We use the Pilot die method (one visually distinct die, plus one white die per point of potential damage, sum the white dice and your pilot die to meet or beat the target number). I liked that system a lot (and was pleased to see it looks like it doesn't make that much of a difference).

Anyway. Glad to find this thread.

I've run Pattons and J. Edgars. Both are annoying as h***, but in different ways.

The J. Edgars are speedy things that are where I want them to be, even if they don't do a lot once there. A Medium Laser and 2 SRM-2s aren't known for Damage output, but the J. Edgar has a lot of Armor for a 25 ton tank.

The Pattons were just huge volumes of Armor that I just put in the way of the advancing enemy and say, "Deal with me."

I've just gotten a pair of Strikers, and a few Sniper Artillery tanks (that I'll proxy as Marksman or Ballistas at times) that I need to paint up before I try them on the table.

Of course, that doesn't even consider the 7 tank lances coming in my Kickstarter pledge.

 pancakeonions wrote:
Battletech Alpha Strike is Awesome Too thread, where have you been all my life?

I've only played once or twice, but it was really fun. I have piles of wizkids mechs etc, all rebased on clear acrylic bases. We use the Pilot die method (one visually distinct die, plus one white die per point of potential damage, sum the white dice and your pilot die to meet or beat the target number). I liked that system a lot (and was pleased to see it looks like it doesn't make that much of a difference).

Anyway. Glad to find this thread.

Rebased Mechwarrior Clix, you are speaking my language! We've been using them for a gaming a variety of rules in 10mm for a long time. Great way to quickly get a good looking army on the table.

tried the pilot die method here, have to say didn't really see the point as its still largely depending upon one die. there are a few who use 1d12 who seem to have missed the point of the bell curve.

also tried individual 2d6 for each point of damage that worked well, but in smaller games, once we got to more than a dozen mechs on the table the "all or nothing" method seems fine, even with split fire - say six damage, four one way, two another, individual die rolls

it works out in the round, could also go with the individual rolls once the number of mechs drop towards the end of the game perhaps as the camera focus zooms in so to speak.

its a lovely little game, and well worth taking the time to look at the non-mech bits, e.g. the advanced terrain rules so woods are not a flat +1, but based on how much woodland there is. the battlefield support stuff is good, and a perfect way to deal with one or two irritating TMM+4 mechs bouncing about

We use the optional rule where on a hit you roll a d6 for each potential point of damage, needing a 3+ to succeed. Minimum damage of 1 point. Works well as a nice in between granularity.

 privateer4hire wrote:
We use the optional rule where on a hit you roll a d6 for each potential point of damage, needing a 3+ to succeed. Minimum damage of 1 point. Works well as a nice in between granularity.

That seemed cool too. Lots of neat ideas, I love that the community tinkers, and comes up with multiple solutions that all seem better (to me) than RAW...!

off for another run at this tomorrow, taking some F-92 Stingrays and LCF-R16 Lucifers, hoping to use at least two and see how they go

finishing touches going on a Longbow & Stalker as well, perhaps even starting to bring in the SPA for official lance/star formations

 pancakeonions wrote:

 privateer4hire wrote:
We use the optional rule where on a hit you roll a d6 for each potential point of damage, needing a 3+ to succeed. Minimum damage of 1 point. Works well as a nice in between granularity.

That seemed cool too. Lots of neat ideas, I love that the community tinkers, and comes up with multiple solutions that all seem better (to me) than RAW...!

Multiple Damage Rolls are RAW 😁 page 174
There’s so much stuff in the rules that you can add or ignore for whatever you are trying to accomplish.
I like the idea of giving unique skill/abilities for example but our group worries it will be OP.

 privateer4hire wrote:

 pancakeonions wrote:

 privateer4hire wrote:
We use the optional rule where on a hit you roll a d6 for each potential point of damage, needing a 3+ to succeed. Minimum damage of 1 point. Works well as a nice in between granularity.

That seemed cool too. Lots of neat ideas, I love that the community tinkers, and comes up with multiple solutions that all seem better (to me) than RAW...!

Multiple Damage Rolls are RAW 😁 page 174
There’s so much stuff in the rules that you can add or ignore for whatever you are trying to accomplish.
I like the idea of giving unique skill/abilities for example but our group worries it will be OP.

Technically, it is ORAW (Optional Rules as Written). It's the House Rule that makes it allowable.

We prefer the Multiple Dice Rolls Optional Rule in our group as the MDR can make it so nothing does Damage on a Hit. It also allows for Split-Firing should it be desired.

On another note, anyone else looking forward to the ACES deck for AS? I am hopeful it’s going to be a good soloing option.

 Charistoph wrote:
It also allows for Spit-Firing should it be desired.

I'd hope that spitting at a Battlemech wouldn't achieve all that much, even against an Urbie...

Didn't run the jets in the end, 250 points of just mechs. Opponent using IS for a change, and skill 4... he noted thats like the game on hard mode without the more usual skill 3 or 2 he runs on clan mechs.. likewise the low damage output. impressed by the armour though.

gave the Longbow and Stalker a run, both survived, though the stalker was crippled and backing off.. a Nightstar went from "I'm fully operation and advancing" to "bleep, one armour left!" in a turn, it wasn't a problem for long as they departed the field of glory in multiple directions the turn after.

good game though, plotting to try a campaign over the summer.

the Kodiak model is very nice

it still died