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Author Topic: Alpha Strike  (Read 995 times)

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ATN082268

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Alpha Strike
« on: January 08, 2014, 04:11:57 AM »
  Here is the review that I posted on Amazon about Alpha Strike:

"Alpha Strike is essentially a rule set where you can play larger scale Battletech battles by sacrificing detail. There are a lot of factors which determine how long a game will last including, but not limited to, player knowledge of the rules, units used, the battlefield and skill of pilots. The vast majority of my standard Battletech games that use 4 ‘Mechs against 4 ‘Mechs take about 4 hours to play. I use map sheets for the battlefield, so the setup of 4 map sheets or so, the handing out of 8 or so record sheets and getting the miniatures out, takes maybe 15 minutes at most.

 I understand that Alpha Strike was meant to speed up game play so that you can use more units than standard Battletech. I really don’t understand the appeal though. O.K. so you can use more units but at the cost of detail. Does that make the game more interesting? And honestly, learning how the standard Battletech rules work isn’t rocket science. Even with Alpha Strike, there are a lot of large scale canon battles in the Battletech universe that would be impractical to play out. My opinion is just to use fewer units with the standard Battletech rules and acknowledge that in most cases, it is just one small section of the battle.

It really depends upon what you are looking for... "


  Is Alpha Strike what you are looking for?
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Bad_Syntax

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Re: Alpha Strike
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2014, 08:28:55 AM »
I wanted a strategic battletech, a battleforce, I had zero desire for yet another dumbed down rules system.

I was a HUGE fan of Heavy Gear until they went "blitz", dumbing down the rules for the masses.

I used to love 40K, until the rules got dumbed down.

I loathe the new direction miniature games are going, where quick and simple beats out detailed and realistic.  Alpha strike is no exception.

That being said though, I have tried to support it, and have created products to support it, but underneath its really just to support battleforce.

I would probably embrace alpha strike more if it wasn't... in my opinion... so "broken", though I'd still rather do a large scale campaign using Battletech rules.
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JPArbiter

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Re: Alpha Strike
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2014, 04:49:47 PM »
I WANT to like Alpha Strike, because I WANT to play company scale or greater games of Battletech within a reasonable time span.  even I will admit I am just not sure about the system though.  I am willing to give it enough time to gestate, see if it grows on me.
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Bad_Syntax

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Re: Alpha Strike
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2014, 05:52:59 PM »
I think I'd be MUCH happier with a system that gives you 1 counter per unit, moving in lance sized stacks (to gain a formation bonus).  The counters would have a dozen or so values on them (they'd be like 1" in size).  Damage would be with 1, 2, 5, 10 # counters.  You wouldn't require anything BUT the counters, and they could be made in any color.  Each unit would be pretty distinct much like battleforce.  It would be scaleable, as instead of each counter being 1 unit, it could be a lance, or company, all with the same game mechanic.  I thought of this a while back on my blog and made up some counters (http://btengineer.blogspot.com/2012/02/feburarys-blabbering.html) but never really made a ruleset out of the thing.

I think that is where BF was going, but by needing paper for regular games is too much work I think.  I can understand if you do a strategic campaign having a sheet of paper to track supplies and XP, but I think people would love to just plop on a table and fight out a regiment sized battle with a dozen mechs per side, each representing a company in their campaign.

Maybe once Interstellar Operations comes out in 2027, I'll revisit it :)

Heck, maybe I should just spit out a bunch of megamek counters, with camo, in various colors, and make Ogre stats out of them.  It'd be easy, still fun, though not as detailed as I like people may love it... I dunno.
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JPArbiter

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Re: Alpha Strike
« Reply #4 on: January 09, 2014, 10:04:30 AM »
I am not a game designer so any suggestions I would make would be from a position of ignorance.  control of individual units in AS works for me, the simplifacation of range brackets and damage works for me (though there needs to be a little more polish on cluster hit weapons.  not as drastic as some people suggest, but a little polish)

what trips me up is trying to MWDA the game using armor and infantry.  they just don't mesh as well as using the Tactical Battletech game or Wizkids ClickWheel.
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ds9guy

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Re: Alpha Strike
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2014, 01:40:47 AM »
I picked up a copy and my brother and I are going to give it a spin using old Mechwarrior figs.

The basic idea seems sound.  Honestly, a quick play, less-complicated version of the rules is the only way to grow the game. 

The intro box set is fine for new players.  Moving from that to 3-4 hardbacks with that much of learning curve is not. 

I'll let you guys know what we think after the trial game. 


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ds9guy

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Re: Alpha Strike
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2014, 01:55:46 AM »
I have a question about the history section of Alpha Strike.  The History of War section (page 142 hardback) takes the universe through the Dark Age but the Realms of power section that covers the Great Houses, etc (page 145) cuts off at the Jihad. 

Do you guys think this was intentional?
I can see this confusing someone new to the setting.

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JPArbiter

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Re: Alpha Strike
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2014, 02:29:50 PM »
they recycled the Maps from Total Warfare, probably to save money.

given how narrowly fleshed out the Dark Age is still compared to the Jihad  or before... I can see how a lack of focus was put on that, particularly since map making is expensive.
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ds9guy

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Re: Alpha Strike
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2014, 04:24:57 PM »
You're probably right, re-use of a map is the explanation.  It just seems strange because you have the book mentioning the BT universe during three time periods.  The clan invasion era, which is given the most attention and the sample forces, is not given a map.  And this is detailed before a historical overview.

As a former history major, I found this interesting.  It seems like the overview should come before the details. 



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