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 privateer4hire wrote:
I’m old enough to have played in the 80s but the classic game always seemed too complex for me and I also never had a community playing it so I could watch games.

My primary gaming buddy did play in the 80s and he introduced me to alpha strike a few years back but it was only the past couple of years that we started really getting into it.

We have about a half dozen regular players now including classic bt vets and most of them refuse to play the original anymore. They prefer quicker games that still allow for fielding a company per player.

We’re having a lot of fun with it.

If the BT vets are of my generation they too might be tired of hypercrunchy game design. Back in the 80s, that's how games were designed and so those of us who were in high school and college simply dealt with it. Since I learned Classic BT back then the mechanics are imprinted in my mind. However, I'm close to 60, and I find it's harder for me to learn similar hypercrunchy games now. Also I've less patience for it. I want to play the damn game, not deal with petty details and rules that use legal notation because the system is that complex. [I'm looking at you Star Fleet Battles and Advanced Squad Leader!] So that's why I'm considering buying Alpha Strike, and as noted earlier I'm fond of the "big battalions" in games so I want company on company. Or larger if feasible.

 privateer4hire wrote:
AH, the free quick start rules really give you a good taste of the game (but you probably already knew)

https://bg.battletech.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/AlphaStrikeQuick-Start-Rules.pdf

One optional rule that we use is variable damage. So instead of a heavy being guaranteed to deal out, say, 9 damage on a successful hit, the player rolls 9 dice with each 3+ being actual damage. Otherwise, excellent heavy gunners just erase opponent mechs.

Actually I did not, so thank you. I can give it a try with the two Force Packs I bought at the Barnes and Noble Boxing Day sale. [Mind, I got a restock notice this morning from MM, so I bought it and the IS Battle Lance, but on hold. There's still OoS products on my wish list.]
The variable damage sounds like a good compromise.

 LunarSol wrote:
I think too often in the simplicity vs complication discussion people forget that elegance is also an option. My main issue with both CBT and AS is that neither is particularly elegant. AS, for all its simplicity is still loaded with tables to run through when determining target numbers. I feel like much of the complexity of CBT could be retained in a much faster playing game if it took the existing systems and found a way to streamline them into something that could be played dramatically faster. A lot of the games from that time just have a focus on resolution that modern games have learned to incorporate into their systems without really losing flavor on the way.

You make a good point. It is something I forget. I liked the original Legend of the Five Rings RPG because I thought it was an elegant system that gave the players a lot of control over what their character could do. The mechanics did not interfere with the role-playing, unlike Advanced Dungeons and Dragons which came from the simulationist design side with modifiers for everything. Of course, original D&D and AD&D was a new genre, so mistakes can be forgiven.

So my Alpha Strike starter, BT: Beginners Box, and two Lances arrived late yesterday. I now have 27 IS mechs to 5 Clan mechs, so I've the two IS companies I wanted. Just need a Crusader and 2nd Stinger for the Black Widow Company, as I will take Prometheum5's suggestion and use the Wasp from the Alpha Strike box. Have almost finished a test mech (the Blackjack from the Wolf's Dragoons Assault Star) using a mix of Speedpaint and regular paint. Just need to drybrush the base. Will probably use more Speedpaint on the next ones.

Now this is for the future, but is there a place where the preferred mechs used by a given Clan are posted? I wandered through Sarna.net, but both the Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Ghost Bear military and Tourman entries did not say. Anyway, I'd be more interested in Clan Ghost Bear as I hate Jade Falcon, and since I'm planning on painting the 2nd IS company as the Eridani Light Horse (Absolution Green Speedpaint, woohoo!), I don't want the Clan mechs in green as well.

Thank you both for the replies. The Mad Dog (Vulture) and Executioner (Gladiator) are two of the favored Ghost Bear mechs according to Sarna.net. The former is in the Clan Heavy Striker Star, but the latter in the Clan Invasion box. So I guess the easier and cheaper path is not to sweat the small stuff: I don't like the Clans enough to bother with the details.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
The Ghost Bears tend to favor very heavy mechs, a few very light designs (Dasher and Dragonfly) and use lots of Elementals. Everything in the Alpha Strike Box works great for Ghost Bear, except maybe the Pouncer until the Late Republic Era. Isorla would easily justify its presence though, so I wouldn't be concerned.

Also, later on in the timeline most of the designs can be used by mercenary force- if you're really not interested in the Clans, you may want to just give them to the ELH.

Thanks for the further replies. I've C&P'd Gitzbitah's above reply into my 'mech inventory list, and will try Sarna.net again for the list Apple Fox mentioned. I'll also remember the advice about isorla and being flexible.

For the moment, I'll focus on the IS mechs, but at the least I'll keep the five from AS for teaching the game. Possibly adding the Heavy Striker Star and a Elemental Star for Clan Invasion scenarios. But that's a maybe. Albertorius, I did note what you mentioned about the elementals earlier. OTOH, elementals are part of the culture shock the IS experienced in the early phases of the Clan Invasion.

Later tonight I'll play the first scenario in AS, and the second if time allows. I'll try it on my BT maps and halve movement and distances as suggested earlier.

An aside. Looking at the mechs included in the forthcoming Eridani Light Horse and Hansen's Rough Riders Force Packs, I can't but think they should have reversed the names, being that the former unit prefers Light/Mediums while the latter Heavy+. Of course, a core of Assault could serve as a fire base for cavalry mechs as well as the rearguard, and even Hansen's will need Light/Mediums for recon and flanking.

So over the last two days I've played three games of Alpha Strike. Playing scenario #1 twice was not that fun, but I did learn the mechanics, and see the difference between "All or Nothing" and rolling for each damage point. I prefer the latter. In scenario #1 only the Nova Cat T could delete light mechs in one shot, and delete it did, but quantity has a quality all its own, and so the Inner Sphere mechs put paid to those dezgra Jade Falcons, although they lost two mechs and the Phoenix Hawk was crippled.

Scenario #1, play 2: I rolled for each point, and it hurt the surat Jade Falcons, as they shot worse than the freebirths they so despise. So only the Wasp and Phoenix Hawk melted this time. To paraphrase a quote, "Falcons, I'm laughing at the supermen!"

The second scenario was much more fun as it felt like a battle. Inner Sphere beat the dezgra Jade Falcons again. Lost the Recon Lance and the Blackjack, so it was not cheap. The Archer was the MVP, even at long and medium range it would hit with at least 75% of its damage.

So at the moment, the expected Clan tech superiority I expect from the regular game is not there. I've used the MUL to build the Black Widows Command and Fire lances, as well an Eridani Light Horse Assault Lance and Recon Lance, 250 each side, and I'll see how that goes.

A question. Can you use all your Battlefield Support cards in one turn? That's how I played it, but in the Quick Start rules there's nothing preventing it.

cpugeek13 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
It sure does.

Yeah, I saw that it says they are included there, but when I’ve looked at listing on some e-shops (including Catalyst’s), they only list the 8 pilot cards and don’t mention anything about the AS cards.

As a recent purchaser of both the current Beginner's Box and Battletech: AGoAC, I can confirm that the former has no Alpha Strike cards and the latter does include the AS cards and Pilot cards. Between the two boxes there are no duplicate plastic mechs.
EDIT: However, the pack of cards I got must be from the original release as it had a Griffin card instead of an Awesome card.

So now I have 35 IS mechs and 10 Clan mechs. [Miniature Market got me with another one of their sales. The Battletech: AGoAC box was marked down from $47.99 to $35.00 at the time, and MSRP is $59.99. So I put it and the Clan Heavy Striker Star in the cart, plus some non-BT products from my Wishlist, and a Hold from a previous sale for the free shipping. I have to stay away from their website, or they'll suck me in again.]

 Graphite wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Nuclear launch detected

Hey! None of that! Ares Conventions in effect!

Tell that to the Word of Blake. See where that gets you.

Personally, since 2012 I've decided that all new minis and terrain acquisitions are either desert-based or themed. Sure, I'd like a variety of terrain and basing, but I can't afford it or store it. So if your mat is desert, I'd run with that. Now for Alpha Strike specifically, I'm doing desert basing, but the Clan mechs will be Rasalhague Dominion, and the IS mechs will be split between Wolf's Dragoons and the Eridani Light Horse. So blue with metallic trim, black with red trim, and green (should be olive drab, but I like the color of Absolution Green Speedpaint so forest green for my mechs). Will probably add a little yellow trim for contrast, and a red head for the Atlas.

If you don't already know about it CamoSpecs has the various faction schemes with pictures. So you can browse there and find a color scheme you like.

One can paint the mech particolored, which was a medieval and Renaissance thing. [The linked picture is of a medieval styled costume, not a mech.]

https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/13lamvw/whipped_up_these_snapclosure_buildings_for_alpha/

This creator designed 6mm buildings for Alpha Strike which also double as storage containers. The larger ones hold the cards, and the small towers look like they hold 16mm dice. He's offering the 3D printer files for free at his website.

Earlier, I asked for advice on mechs that Clan Ghost Bear preferred. Recently I purchased the Clan Heavy Striker Star. Three of the five points just so happen to be Ghost Bear preferred mechs: Mad Dog (Vulture), Ice Ferret (Fenris), and Viper (Dragonfly) according to sarna.net. With the Fire Moth that came in the Alpha Strike starter, that's 4 Ghost Bear mechs. Now if the Executioner (Gladiator) would come back in stock at Fortress Miniatures... I'll be painting these as Rasalhague Dominion. So if anyone else is looking for Ghost Bears, the Clan Heavy Striker Star is a good place to start.

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Clan_Ghost_Bear#Military
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Category:Clan_Ghost_Bear_BattleMechs

 Gitzbitah wrote:

Very cool! Check out master unit list as well. You can sort by faction and era. It's a great guideline for building lists. http://www.masterunitlist.info/Faction/Details/40 There's a link to the Rasalhague Dominion faction. Just click the era you favor, and it'll show you what are commonly available to the Bears.

Thank you, Gitzbitah. That's quite useful.

Edit: The Hellbringer (Loki) is available to the Rasalhague Dominion starting with the Late Republic period [3101-3130] effectively making the Heavy Striker Star a Rasalhague Dominion star out of the box!

So I got two of my friends into Alpha Strike, although at this point only one of them has bought his own stuff. As he prefers Clan this makes dividing the spheres of interest easy. (Though we will each be keeping all the 'mechs from our AS boxes. Besides he has the BT: AGoAC box too, so it not like he never plays IS). So counting today's game he has suffered three straight defeats as Clan. The first two games were not even close. Now in CBT, one used tonnage, not this PV system. Have any of you more experienced players used tonnage in AS for force building, and if so, what were the results?

Does the AS Commander's Rulebook have rules for infantry and battle armor?

 Albertorius wrote:

 Ancestral Hamster wrote:
Does the AS Commander's Rulebook have rules for infantry and battle armor?

Yes, yes it does.

Thanks for the reply.

So I got my Alpha Strike Succession Wars cards today, and I now have ten Combat Command cards. Are the rules for these in the current AS Commander's Edition? I'd have ordered that book at the same time, but was OoS at the time.

Also ordered four Clan Invasion Blind boxes and got.
1st Hunchback
1st Nightstar
2nd Trebuchet
3rd Warhammer

Slightly annoyed by the 3rd Warhammer, but at least it is not a Rifleman (of which I own three). Three RIflemen is two too many of that firetrap. Although I will admit the two unit/scenario books I own from the mid-80s will need at least one of each Unseen per side as there were only 24 or fewer mechs back then.