Battletech Alpha Strike is Awesome Too!

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**cpugeek13**

So, I played a bit of classic BT back in the day but I’m looking to get into Alpha Strike lately. Got a starter box in the mail, as well as a couple lance packs. I’ve read through the Commander’s Edition rules and I was wondering which optional rules people usually prefer to play with? Also how many points do need for a decent-sized game?

I’m really hoping that the recent attention this ruleset means that Catalyst will support it better in the future!

**leopard**

have had a few games, forget the points but circa 1000 springs to mind, ended up with about 8 inner sphere facing about 5 clan and it seemed fine

the main optional rule we went with is rolling each attack individually, so say a four dice attack is four 2d6 rolls not a single one that hits for four damage - we found that lead to very fast brutal games where as individual attacks made movement matter more as you could pull damaged units back etc.

we tried the "pilot die" method and didn't see the point

it is a very good game, not as detailed as the full system (obviously) but does have a very similar flavour to it

not played recently, you see I bought an air unit and my opponent has decided to play other things since..

the only things I don't like are the cards, not as a concept, as a concept they are fine, but the contrast is too low on the check boxes which are too small - made my own for the mechs I have, A7 so slightly larger and black & white with larger check boxes, then laminated

oh and another point thats worth a try, not a rule as such, get a pack of coloured markers, use a different colour for each turn, easy to see what turn what damage was done on

**Gitzbitah**

Welcome! I came from a similar background. From my experience, with a pretty active Alpha Strike group, you've got big set piece games where someone rolls out a company, and you build to match, typically in the 750-1000 range.

Much more common are small pickup games, usually using a 350 list from the Wolfnet tournament. https://wolfsdragoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/FINAL-2.1.pdf

Variable damage is a very common rule on the lower end of the point scale, as leopard already laid out for you. At the higher end (750+), we tend to roll once for everything, but will also use formation rules, and allow a certain number of pilot skills and alternate ammo per lance/star/level II.

masterunitlist is an amazing resource. http://www.masterunitlist.info/ I print my list each time, just because going down several sheets of paper is easier for me to keep track of- and they are constantly balancing the points values of the units.

Talk to your opponent, and add on new stuff one thing at a time. Have the artillery game, or the aerospace game, and figure out what is fun for you.

**Charistoph**

My local group plays Alpha Strike the last Friday of every month, and occasionally on Saturday when our narrative campaign calls for all hands on deck (so far it has lost us the most units when we do this).

For Fridays, it's usually about 200-300 PV, but we also run in 70 minute intervals to try and get 3 games in the 4 hours we have.

So far we use the Multiple Attack Rolls to help replicate that variability that the Total Warfare rules have.

We've only added variable Skills the last couple games. It's been pretty normal to have everyone use set Skills to make it easier to add up and make it a little easier to get hits in.

We haven't introduced Formation Rules or Special Pilot Abilities as yet for our Friday Night Games, as that can be a bit of a headache to work out at times.

**cpugeek13**

Just got the Alpha Strike box today and am really impressed. It is one of the best miniature wargame starter boxes I’ve owned. I played a couple games with my son using the quick-start rules and I think this box would be especially good for non-wargamers or people that played the Battletech video games but don’t have a lot of experience with wargames. It has a lot of toys to play with right from the start with very little rules overhead or other preparation required. Even the cardboard terrain in the box was better than I expected, and I’ll probably continue using the card stock buildings when we play.

The only potential issue I can see with the starter box is that it only has a small amount of special keyword rules and is missing some of the keywords for the included mechs! It’s a little disappointing, but at least it tells players specifically to ignore the other keywords when playing at the “quick-start” level of play.

**Shrapnelsmile**

I wonder if the Alpha Strike rules would work well with my old Mechwarrior pre-painted minis? Any thoughts?

**Gitzbitah**

Shrapnelsmile wrote:
I wonder if the Alpha Strike rules would work well with my old Mechwarrior pre-painted minis? Any thoughts?

Scale will be slightly off, but about 90% of the infantry I see used in Alpha Strike is from Dark Age. Sometimes rebased, sometimes not. It's a great way to get started and explore your options before buying the updated models. And far less jarring than on a hex map, where you take up two hexes.

**Charistoph**

Gitzbitah wrote:
Shrapnelsmile wrote:
I wonder if the Alpha Strike rules would work well with my old Mechwarrior pre-painted minis? Any thoughts?

Scale will be slightly off, but about 90% of the infantry I see used in Alpha Strike is from Dark Age. Sometimes rebased, sometimes not. It's a great way to get started and explore your options before buying the updated models. And far less jarring than on a hex map, where you take up two hexes.

What he said.

Our local game coordinator uses the Infantry ones all the time for like very light hovercraft. He also used the Xantos as a Super-Heavy when we were doing Classic.

So Infantry is good, Vehicles might be a bit questionable. Mechs will have bases which are just so big that it might be to your detriment for like fitting it in to place, etc.

**privateer4hire**

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.

**Ancestral Hamster**

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**

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.

**Charistoph**

We use Multiple Attack Rolls in our group.as it keeps some of that Classic Battletech feel as well as reducing dice rolls (when using appropriately grouped dice).

We had one guy one time rolling a bunch of dice all the same color for his 2D6 and picking out winning pairs from it.

Unfortunately, this was in our Narrative campaign, he was basically using a Heavy Company, and our leader was using a Medium Lance to hold him off (as well as the Assault Command Lance, eventually).

We lost a new pilot and Grasshopper that day, and our own Command Lance was shredded.

Picked up a Thunderbolt and Warhammer, though, so not a total loss.

**LunarSol**

Ancestral Hamster wrote:
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.

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.

**Ancestral Hamster**

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.

**cpugeek13**

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.

I couldn’t imagine a Battletech game without its modifier system, it’s what makes it stand out from modern miniature wargames. I think Alpha Strike simplified it enough that it’s easy to memorize after a couple games and quickly becomes second nature. The only other table that you really need to AS is the critical hits table, which I really wish was printed on the mech cards somehow.

I’ve only played a couple games of Alpha Strike so far, but I’m amazed at how it still feels like BT with only a fraction of the rules. However, I do wish they could incorporate the weapons somehow into the shooting mechanics, since I think players new to BT will lose a lot of flavor if they haven’t played CBT.

**catbarf**

I agree with both Ancestral Hamster and LunarSol- I've never been able to get into Battletech proper because it's a bit too crunchy for my tastes. The modern use of dice colors and numbers to track movement mode and target modifier is a good example of improving the elegance while keeping the same mechanics, but there's only so much you can do without overhauling the ruleset.

I've liked Alpha Strike enough to finally order the boxed set, but I think the game I would really love to see would just be a simplified and modernized CBT, somewhere in between the two games in terms of crunch. Keep the individual weapons and damage locations, but make it play quickly enough that I can do lance-on-lance in an hour.

I'd definitely be curious to see if there's an elegant way to replace table lookups and modifier computation. Or possibly even get away from the use of 2D6 resolution entirely while still keeping some level of bell curve distribution. Might see if I can homebrew something, but I still plan to do more Alpha Strike as-is and see if I can get some local wargaming newbies into it.

**LunarSol**

Alpha Strike feels like it really wants to be played at very large scales where I think the sweet spot is Lance vs Lance or Star vs Star kind of gameplay. The 2 Lance = 1 Star ratio makes that a little more difficult, though the timeline moving forward creates opportunities to mess with that if you were to do a middle ground system.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

cpugeek13 wrote:
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.

I couldn’t imagine a Battletech game without its modifier system, it’s what makes it stand out from modern miniature wargames. I think Alpha Strike simplified it enough that it’s easy to memorize after a couple games and quickly becomes second nature. The only other table that you really need to AS is the critical hits table, which I really wish was printed on the mech cards somehow.

I’ve only played a couple games of Alpha Strike so far, but I’m amazed at how it still feels like BT with only a fraction of the rules. However, I do wish they could incorporate the weapons somehow into the shooting mechanics, since I think players new to BT will lose a lot of flavor if they haven’t played CBT.

A lot of it comes down to little things. Like if you're going to have range modifiers printed on the cards it'd be great to have the actual ranges included. At its core though, the combat engine of Alpha Strike isn't all that different from what you see in Warmachine but it feels a lot more complicated because the neutral state isn't as simple. In Warmachine, you kind of start with RAT 6 vs DEF 12, hit on 6's and apply modifiers from there. Aiming is a special case, cover is a special case, etc, but the baseline roll is very straightforward. It also helps that modifiers are being applied to both sides. Aiming is an effect of the attacker that effects the attackers stat, while Cover is a choice of the Defender and applies to their stat.

So, lets rework SATOR into literally just Warmachine's system and see if its cleaner. Timberwolf T vs Atlas S4 out of the base set. We're going to say Skill 4 is the same as RAT 6, with Skill 1 being RAT 9. In a standard firefight, with both moving at close range, a Skill 4 needs a 5 to hit an Atlas or a 6 to hit a Timberwolf, so lets say an Atlas is DEF 11 and a Timberwolf is DEF 12.

Now we can talk modifiers. These become choices with pretty straightforward effects made to the player who made the choice. I declare Standstill. My mech gets +1 RAT but is reduces to DEF 10. I Jump, I get +1 DEF but suffer -2 RAT. If I'm in cover I get +1 DEF. Lets add more complications via Conditions. Immobilize just reduces a Mech's DEF to 6. Mech's with Heat suffer -1 RAT, etc. Nothing about this changes the rules; it simply reorganizes how they're applied by the actions taken and applies them to the mechs that took the action.

**Chillreaper**

There's always the Intro box rules - basically a stripped down version of the main BT rules.

No heat, no crits, no armour/internals just hit points.

The CGL site had a PDF with a big pile of the mechsheets that work with those rules.

Mind you, I just looked at the rules again - the balance is non-existant! A Nova Prime not having to face heat issues? It's a 50 ton nightmare!

**Charistoph**

catbarf wrote:I'd definitely be curious to see if there's an elegant way to replace table lookups and modifier computation. Or possibly even get away from the use of 2D6 resolution entirely while still keeping some level of bell curve distribution. Might see if I can homebrew something, but I still plan to do more Alpha Strike as-is and see if I can get some local wargaming newbies into it.

The only way to do that is to increase the number of dice all together. Reducing the dice only flattens the curve. Changing the size of the dice just changes the spread and reach of the curve.

I've seen someone who uses D12s to run his Alpha Strike games, and that bugs the math part of my brain that understands the reason for the Curve. It gets even worse with CBT as the Locations are built around that Curve.

LunarSol wrote:Alpha Strike feels like it really wants to be played at very large scales where I think the sweet spot is Lance vs Lance or Star vs Star kind of gameplay. The 2 Lance = 1 Star ratio makes that a little more difficult, though the timeline moving forward creates opportunities to mess with that if you were to do a middle ground system.

Our group usually has an objective of running 3 70-minue games on our Alpha Strike nights. USUALLY that's about a lance of Clan Mechs or a Star of Inner Sphere Mechs. One might be able to go higher if one went with lighter units.

**LunarSol**

I get the appeal of the D12 rolls, but it is definitely a massive difference vs the 36 point curve. I don't think multiple rolls is too bad, particularly if you just announce hits as you go, and aren't playing so seriously that you need to confirm each roll, but it's not ideal. It's one of the areas where a little weapon nuance with a damage value would let them reduce rolls down to 2-4 for most mechs without going all or nothing. It's not bad as is, I'd just really like a bit more damage tracking, than what's in AS currently.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Charistoph wrote:

LunarSol wrote:Alpha Strike feels like it really wants to be played at very large scales where I think the sweet spot is Lance vs Lance or Star vs Star kind of gameplay. The 2 Lance = 1 Star ratio makes that a little more difficult, though the timeline moving forward creates opportunities to mess with that if you were to do a middle ground system.

Our group usually has an objective of running 3 70-minue games on our Alpha Strike nights. USUALLY that's about a lance of Clan Mechs or a Star of Inner Sphere Mechs. One might be able to go higher if one went with lighter units.

This is probably just a result of the people I see playing. Building actual lists that makes sense. The 200 point games in the Wolf Dragoon package are definitely a lot smaller than what I've seen played at the shop and far more my speed.

**Ghaz**

Learn More About the Mercenaries Kickstarter on our Pre-Launch Page! Plus, New Releases and Street Dates

Today a slew of elements launch, all pointing towards our coming Kickstarter campaign.

Here’s the rundown:

BACKERKIT PRE-LAUNCH PAGE IS LIVE!

Our preview, pre-launch page is live on BackerKit, right now! This preview page offers a look at what’s coming in the Mercenaries Kickstarter when it launches on March 23 at AdeptiCon. This includes a list of all the ForcePacks that will be available; a new 4” Timber Wolf for Veteran-level and above backers; the Salvage Box: Visigoth aerospace fighter, free to those that back in the first 48 hours; the incredibly exciting Kickstarter Launch Parties that might come to your corner of the Inner Sphere; and playtesting materials you can access right now by registering on the BackerKit pre-launch page!

Sign-up now! https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/8fd3639a-e1cd-44b9-8f15-5279077ad7f8/landing

MERCENARIES KICKSTARTER PREVIEW 03 PDF

We continue our in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the development of the miniatures for this Kickstarter. Preview 03 PDF is now available–for free as always–covering the Ostroc and Mobile HQ!

Catalyst Game Labs web store: https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-mercenaries-kickstarter-preview-03

NEW MERCENARY T-SHIRTS

As noted on the BackerKit pre-launch page, we’re trying something different with the t-shirts this time around. Instead of incorporating them as rewards for the Mercenaries Kickstarter, we’re simply releasing them on our store, pairing up a mercenary outfit with a faction.

The first pair is available now:

Illican Lancers
Clan Sea Fox
More factions and mercenary commands will be available in the coming months, covering multiple eras:

February 10: Eridani Light Horse & Star League
March 10: Northwind Highlanders & The Republic of the Sphere
Based upon the success of these first items, more mercenary and faction t-shirts will roll out during the rest of the year.

Stock: This is our first time offering faction t-shirts in this fashion. As such, we’ve been conservative on quantities. However, these are made in the U.S. and Silkworm has been a stalwart company to work with, always willing to run with us when needed. As such, if sales significantly exceed expectations, we can restock within 21 days.

Price: $30 each

Catalyst Game Labs web store:
Clan Sea Fox – https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-clan-sea-fox-t-shirt
Illician Lancers – https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-illician-lancer-t-shirt

THE MERCENARY TALES SERIES

The Mercenary Tales are a new series of short stories tied into the Kickstarter campaign, the new t-shirts, and the preview of ’Mechs and vehicles coming in the Kickstarter. The series kicks off today with Riptides by Randall N. Bills, a new ilClan Era story that features Clan Sea Fox and the Illician Lancers mercenary outfit.

Riptides
The Mercenary Tales, #1, by Randall N. Bills

A new era is dawning…

The Illician Lancers: a mercenary outfit with centuries of honorable tradition, yet somehow always missing the limelight. Especially recently, after their mission failure during the liberation of New Syrtis in 3147 tarnished their once-sterling reputation and left them languishing on the Capellan border. Can Colonel Luciana Araya Morales overcome the shame of those events and restore the Lancers to their former glory?

Meanwhile, as Clan Wolf prepares for its invasion of the cradle of humanity, Ya’el Labov, saKhan of the Sea Fox Khanate, hunts for new opportunities in the currents wafting from Terra. Rumors that the Clan Wolf Khan is using mercenaries as part of his attack plan set the wily saKhan’s mind to spinning. How can he take advantage of this, and make Clan Sea Fox’s star rise even further?

Two people with very different goals are about to embark on a shared mission that, if successful, will change much in the Inner Sphere. And if they are not, their alliance may be doomed to failure before it can even begin…

Price: $1.99

E-publication: https://books2read.com/BattleTechRiptides

CLAN SEA FOX LOSTECH DICE PUCK

The Clan Sea Fox dice puck is now available! This item is the same, high-quality, anodized aircraft-grade aluminum magnet-lidded case as previous Lostech Dice pucks. Includes two 16mm dice, and four 12mm dice.

Stock: This is stock remaining from sales at Gen Con 2022. Once they are gone, it will be some time before they can be restocked.

Price: $49.99

Catalyst Game Labs: https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-lostech-dice-clan-sea-fox

INTERSTELLAR OPERATIONS RULEBOOKS RESTOCK

As the “Vintage”-cover printings of the Total Warfare rulebook line have gone out of print, they have been reprinted with new, mercenary-themed covers, and now the Interstellar Operations books have received the same treatment. The two Interstellar Operations covers allowed us to really spread our artistic wings. The incredible size differences of combat units is on display on the Alternate Eras book, while a shot from the Battle of Misery covered in the novel Wolves on the Border, graces the BattleForce cover.

Interstellar Operations: Alternate Eras

Catalyst Game Labs web store: https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-interstellar-operations-alternate-eras
DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/390967

Interstellar Operations: BattleForce

Catalyst Game Labs web store: https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-interstellar-operations-battleforce
DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/390968

DOMINIONS DIVIDED STREET DATE

Last but absolutely not least, we’re happy to announce that Dominions Divided‘s street date is officially Friday, January 27.

**Flinty**

Random question, can you play alpha strike on hex mats? Or is it just with scenery?

Looking for a pew pew game that can be played on the kitchen table with minimal setup time.

**Ghaz**

Flinty wrote:
Random question, can you play alpha strike on hex mats?

Yes. The Alpha Strike Commander's Edition rulebook has rules for converting Alpha Strike to hex maps.

**Charistoph**

Flinty wrote:
Random question, can you play alpha strike on hex mats? Or is it just with scenery?

Looking for a pew pew game that can be played on the kitchen table with minimal setup time.

Mostly it's just dividing all the inches in half.

**Flinty**

Great! Looks like I might have a birthday present idea for myself

**privateer4hire**

Flinty wrote:
Random question, can you play alpha strike on hex mats? Or is it just with scenery?

Looking for a pew pew game that can be played on the kitchen table with minimal setup time.

It’s been answered already but one of my gaming buddies and I play alpha strike games remotely on table top using identical hex maps.

We have counters with facing noted for the other guy’s mechs. We move by identifying the unit and stating new hex and the hex number it’s facing. Each player records his units damage.

Works well for about a lance for us. And since we live about 90 minutes apart, it really saves on driving time and gas

**Flinty**

Modern play by mail chess

nice!

**Albertorius**

Flinty wrote:
Random question, can you play alpha strike on hex mats? Or is it just with scenery?

Looking for a pew pew game that can be played on the kitchen table with minimal setup time.

I personally prefer hexmaps, as it's much easier to set up and adjudicate.

In AS news, yesterday I convinced a friend I play (well, mostly paint) KT with to give it a go at AS, so we spent a couple hours yesterday looking at unit cards, the differences between clan and IS stuff, and how much easier is to play with mixed techs with AS as it's much simplified.

So I ended up making a couple of 800 points lists with stuff I had.

I first made a clan omni trinary with all pilots at skill 2-3, made up of the star I actually have painted plus two others:

Black Hawk (Nova) Prime (3)
Puma (Adder) Prime (3)
Grendel (Mongrel) Prime (3)
Gladiator (Executioner) Prime (2)
Mad Cat (Timber Wolf) Prime (2)
Mad Cat (Timber Wolf) A (3)
Loki (Hellbringer) Prime (3)
Dragonfly (Viper) Prime (3)
Thor (Summoner) Prime (3)
Man O' War (Gargoyle) Prime (3)
Dasher (Fire Moth) Prime (3)
Koshi (Mist Lynx) Prime (3)
Daishi (Dire Wolf) Prime (2)
Shadow Cat Prime (3)
Nova Cat Prime (3)
15 Units, 800 points

So, to fill up 800 points of 3025 era IS stuff, I had to use the siz lances I have painted and make about half of the pilots veterans with skill 3:

Wolverine WVR-6R (4)
Griffin GRF-1N (4)
Longbow LGB-0W (3)
Rifleman RFL-3N (4)
Rifleman RFL-4D (4)
Griffin GRF-1S (4)
Archer ARC-2R (3)
Valkyrie VLK-QA (4)
Shadow Hawk SHD-2H (4)
Commando COM-2D (4)
BattleMaster BLR-1G (3)
Thunderbolt TDR-5S (4)
Warhammer WHM-6R (3)
Archer ARC-2S (3)
Wolverine WVR-6K (3)
Longbow LGB-7Q (3)
Valkyrie VLK-QF (4)
Marauder MAD-3R (3)
Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (4)
Archer ARC-2R (3)
Wolverine WVR-6M (3)
Locust LCT-1V (4)
Phoenix Hawk PXH-1D (3)
Wasp WSP-1A (4)
24 Units, 800 points

(of course, the test game will be with the single painted star against probably a couple lances or something ^^)

**Eilif**

Shrapnelsmile wrote:
I wonder if the Alpha Strike rules would work well with my old Mechwarrior pre-painted minis? Any thoughts?

We played the first stand alone version of Alpha Strike with rebased MechWarrior clix. Used measurements as written.
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/2013/12/alpha-strike-game-report-and-review/

Back when you could buy big bulk lots for cheap we bought buckets and then divided up matching forces to each club member. We used the minis for Alpha Strike, Mech Attack, Panzer 8 and other small scale Wargaming rules. The new Battletech plastic Mecha are really cool but I like the larger scale.

**Shrapnelsmile**

Eilif wrote:
Shrapnelsmile wrote:
I wonder if the Alpha Strike rules would work well with my old Mechwarrior pre-painted minis? Any thoughts?

We played the first stand alone version of Alpha Strike with rebased MechWarrior clix. Used measurements as written.
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/2013/12/alpha-strike-game-report-and-review/

Back when you could buy big bulk lots for cheap we bought buckets and then divided up matching forces to each club member. We used the minis for Alpha Strike, Mech Attack, Panzer 8 and other small scale Wargaming rules. The new Battletech plastic Mecha are really cool but I like the larger scale.

this is very, very cool. Thanks for encouragement.