Alpha strike

This past weekend I was invited to P's house to play a game of Alpha strike.  Alpha strike is a quicker variant of Battletech, which instead of hexes has more of a traditional miniatures game feel.  Models have free movement in inches, and line of sight is closer to "real" from the model's point of view.  The basic game play is much like battletech where you determine a target number and then want to meet or exceed it to hit, and you are often fishing for criticals.  It also reduces the complexity of a battle 'mech from a full sheet of information down to a card, where a single mech has just a few stats.

Here is a Griffin (model GRF-1N) as a point of comparison.  The Alpha Strike card has five lines of information, and then a little critical hit chart.  Movement is a fixed 10 inches and is marked "j" to indicate that it can be jumping. Shooting is reduced to a Short/Medium/Long range output of 1/2/2. (and all range bands are the same for all mechs)

Simple

By comparison, the Battletech record sheet for that same unit has three modes of movement, and each of two weapons has heat/damage/Minimum/short/medium/long range stat.  (and most mechs have a lot more weapons than this Griffin)  Damage is not  limited to five little bubbles, but has a whole mech body to bubble in before you start getting to the good stuff on the inside. 

Detailed

In any case the main allure of Alpha Strike vs. Battletech is that in the same amount of time you can play games which are more than four times larger, more easily incorporate combined arms, and since they are not hex based, you can use more common terrain, so it looks a lot more "real" than Battletech can.  

In preparation for the game, I read the quick start rules, put together a small army from some existing figures, and gave some more details to some partly painted figures which were going to be a couple of mercenary lances.  I went mech only, and had this Marik Militia unit supported by two mixed lances of mercenaries. 

The real heroes of the day (mercenary scum not shown)

P has a LOT of battletech stuff from the kickstarters, so he had a more combined arms force, with power armored infantry, LRM carriers, tanks, and then a number of heavy mechs.  His were not painted, so we joked that they were the "Grey Death" (an in universe unit).  In the pictures that follow, his forces are predominantly on the left, and mine are on the right.  In the mission we selected, the attacker (me) had to scan each of the buildings to find six that were targets, and then escape with the information. 

Turn 1

Grey Death to the left, Marik to the right screened by the ridge, Mercenaries top right in the forest.  I ended up deploying the heavies on the bottom and top of the map, with mediums and lights in the middle, with the idea that they would zip in and scan the buildings. 

Turn 2

During the first turn, the forces engaged in long range speculative fire (mostly indirect), and the attackers were pressing in a bit.  Little fast mechs zoomed around the board and missed each other. Some damage was dealt, and the helicopter was shot down. 

Turn 3

By the start of the third turn, the Grey Death tanks and heavy units shuffled around to get more cover, the lighter units and infantry skirmished with the mercenaries, and the Marik heavies advanced to get into medium range for more damage. (potentially, you have to hit stuff for that to work)

Turn 4

At the start of turn 4, we tried some close combat... light mechs do more damage shooting than they do stomping on infantry (2 instead of 1, since close combat is based on size), and stomping on a tank seems to do a lot less than you would imagine.  None of the Grey Death heavies got killed, but a couple of them were pretty close, where as the Marik heavies had the damage spread out more evenly. 

We ended up playing through four complete turns, which took around an hour each.  Further play would be somewhat faster, as we did spend a lot of time looking things up.  The basic rules themselves were very easy to grasp, but there were some unusual interactions and a few areas that were not very clear.  The game would also have been a lot faster if we did not roll like crap for most of the game!  "Looks like I need to roll an 8 here, <rolls a 7>".  Mechs only go boom IF you hit them...

P was an excellent host, and after we finished the game we discussed playing again... maybe a game with Stew, if he can get away from the family for an afternoon.  I do after all have two companies of painted mechs, and a lot of random figures that could become mercenaries... 

Jump off to Joppa part 3

 In part 2 of this series, I discussed how I hosted a game at my house.

Unfortunately we had run out of time, and Stew and P had to depart.  The kid was convinced that we ought to keep playing, so rather than wrap things up where they were, we played on!  (and on and on).

This is how I felt after the game...

Since we only completed the shooting phase of the turn, the kid decided to take over the FWL invaders, and I took over command of both lances of Capellans. Finishing out the turn, the Highlander swatted the Wasp out from behind it, causing it to crash to the ground, and the FWl Crusader overheated, failed a shutdown check [rolled a 3 on 2d6!], and fell to the ground. 

The next turn the Highlander unloaded into the Crusader, the now fleeing Quickdraw, and then stomped the Wasp to death.  In the middle of the board the Battlemaster tried to evade the AC20 of the Huncback, and on the right side the various lights maneuvered around.  The Hermes II destroyed another Wasp.

Four Wasps enter, and three are burning wreckage

On the left the Highlander and the quickdraw-crusader duo fight it out rather inconclusively, as with a mighty +4 to the target number to hit the Highlander was missing nearly all its shots.  Near the middle everything seems to be trying to batter down the Battlemaster while the other FWL 'mechs tried to prevent that.  That pretty much defines the rest of the game. 

More of the same, although now the Crusader is fleeing from the Highlander which is following very very slowly at one or two hexes a turn.  Maneuvering for a shot at the Battlemaster, the Phoenix Hawk is unceremoniously shoved off a cliff, but manages to land on its feet.  Then it overheats.  I realized here that the Highlander had the range to the Battlemaster with its LRM20, and that the Stinger could spot for it... indirect fire followed. 

Different lighting suggests that this game is going on for a long time, and that is so!  The Quickdraw decides to jump over to the action in the center, hoping to get a shot at the rear of the Capellan Crusader.  The Locust gives up on trying to kick things and charges the Gladiator, but misses. (good thing too, as it ran something like 8 hexes for the charge)  The last of the Wasps is killed. 

Final action: 

The Battlemaster rather belatedly flees the action, but is shot to death, losing 3 of four limbs.  The Quickdraw, which had been leaping about with a damaged leg for most of the game finally goes down.

Closeup of the demise of the Battlemaster

The Battlemaster finally goes down! 

In the end, with only one 'mech remaining relatively unharmed, the FWL surrendered and negotiated to get their surviving pilots back.  The Capellans gained quite a lot of salvage... unfortunately most of it pretty wrecked! 

Lessons learned from all of this:

• Battletech is fun!
• Battletech is slow!
• Hosting games is fun! 
• Hosting games is also a lot of work!

Stay tuned for part 4, where I discuss some of the rules issues we had, and a few other general thoughts about the game.

Jump off to Joppa part 2

 As mentioned in part 1, I actually hosted a Battletech game at my house last month.

On a Saturday morning, I was joined by Stew and P, and my kid joined as well to give a total of four players. I had set the terrain (Grasslands 2 and 3 with printed hills, some buildings, and unfortunately no 3D trees), and P brought along a couple of pre-painted buildings from Gale Force 9.  Both Stew and P had played Battletech before, but in colleges, which is a fair ways behind us now!  The kid and I had played a few practice games, but nothing nearly as large and complicated as this, so there was a lot of looking up rule interactions. 

Here is the initial set up, with three lances prepared for each side. 

Record sheets take up a lot of room

We looked over the figures, and decide to take a light and heavy lance per side, rather than mix them up.   In retrospect we should have taken the mediums instead for a faster game. 

The Capellan Confederation ended up taking a light lance made up of two Wasps (WSP-1A and 1L) a Phoenix Hawk, and a Stinger, and a heavy lance made up of a Hunchback, Gladiator (3R), Crusader (CRD-3L), and a Highlander.  The Free Worlds League had a light lance of two Wasp 1As, a Locust, and a Hermes II, and a heavy lance of a Crusader, Battlemaster, Quickdraw, and and Orion.  Battle Value wise, the Capellans had 7520 and the FWL had 7441.  I took the Capellan heavies, and the kid took the lights, while across the table Stew took the heavies and P the lights. 

Turn 1

(Worth clicking to make the picture larger)

Turn one we maneuvered our units onto the board.  There was a pretty heavy concentration of units on the right side of the map, with 6 Capellans and 5 FWL 'mechs on that side.  However, the Highlander is perfectly able to hold onto the left side map by itself...

Turn 2 the kid declared a DFA attack on with a Wasp on a Locust, so I spent some time looking up the rules for that.  The Wasp missed, and then I had I look up fall damage for the poor Wasp.  I was too distracted to take a shot of that turn, but here is the Capellan light lance trying to box in the speedy Locust.  The kid also learned that the Phoenix hawk can effectively move OR shoot... 10 heat sinks on the standard model is just not enough! 

 Turn 3

In this turn the Highlander starts to take (and handout) a beating of the left side, while the Hunchback emerges from the city to shoot the Battlemaster in the chest.  AC20 is delightful. Well, to shoot it is delightful, not so much to be hit with.  The Gladiator punches the FWL Wasp in the face, and puts it out of the game, killing the pilot.  The FWL Crusader learns than dipping in level -1 water when you have no leg heat sinks and leg mounted SRM6 is just not a great idea. 

Hold still so I can punch you with 90 tons of mass

Turn 4

The Hunchback ran around to shoot the Battlemaster in the back, while the Crusader on the hill retreats after missing most of its alpha strike. (and got very very hot).  On the left the Highlander mauls the Quickdraw, and takes about half the missiles from the FWL Crusader.  The FWL Wasp does what Wasps do and runs around behind the Highlander and shoots.  And hits.  And hits it in the head.  And scores two critical hits destroying both sets of sensors so that all future shooting from the Highlander will be at a +4, but at least it did not kill the pilot!  

As you might expect with two new players, and two who had not played in 15-20 years, the game did not play to conclusion!  Stew and P had to leave to spend part of their Saturday with their actual families, so stay tuned for part 3 and the conclusion where the kid took over the FWL and we continued on. 

Jump off to Joppa part 1

Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Joppa, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. 

A couple of  weekends I hosted my first ever game. 

I have been very busy in the last month, with the printer running pretty much non-stop generating terrain, markers, needed figures, and everything else in-between.

Additionally, I have managed to successfully use an airbrush, painted two company sized units of 'Mechs for Battletech, and read through the introductory, and Total Warfare rulebooks, as well as a whole host of online material, and I had Sarna.net open basically all day.  I have a bunch of posts stacked up regarding all this, as well as other more general hobby catch up posts. 

Lots more to come! 

Battletech: Gift completed

 A while back, I mentioned that I had descended into madness with regards to Battletech, and had bought a game set for my friend and his son, and then printed off some 3d terrain to give to them.

Well, my kid pointed out that the trees I had painted were insufficient for the basic maps, and so I needed to print more... and paint them.  I threw in a few more buildings and a power generator as an objective. 

Then, I thought, well, who wants to play with carboard standees (as nice as they are) when you can have mechs instead?  So I printed and primed enough mechs to have a both sides equal sort of battle  (which with basic rules would play out pretty strangely).  So, I added two locusts, a griffon and a wolverine to go with the ones in the boxed set, and two thunderbolts which took a ton of time, being larger and more complicated figures.  I also converted a Phoenix hawk from a misprinted Wasp and painted it up in classic Skull Squadron colors from Robotech (painting the tiny skull and crossbones was a challenge for sure!  However my buddy is a Robotech fan so it had to be done (here is a previously published crap picture).

Now, any sensible person would have stopped here, and not you know, printed a ton more stuff for a game they have not really played, and have no regular opponent for.  As you know by now, I am not sensible, and mistakes were made... lots of them.  More to come. 

Been a while

Loads of stuff going on here in the household, very little of it miniature or gaming related.  I was also too busy to read blogs for a while, so apologies for missing all of your great posts.  I am slowly going through all that. 

Some recap:

I printed and painted a face mask for a friend's son's Halloween mask.  since it was so large, I printed it in two sections, pined them together with spare filament, and then painted it with a few layers of PVA glue.  Then spray painted an off-white color, some detail painting, and sponged painted "bone" color. 

I have also been working on printing a lance, a company, a battalion of Battlemechs for Battletech.  Really quite an absurd number of Mechs. All Third Succession War era, mostly TRO 3025 stuff.  Started painting a few of them, little to see there yet.  Bought the maps and introductory rulebook from the starter box, so closer to a game at least. 

Speaking of which, before I got the intro rulebook, the kid and I muddled through a game using the free basic rules, while discussing my Sarna.net derived understanding of the rules not included in the basic ones (which are a lot, but mainly heat, levels, and close combat).

Pretty good initial effort for a 3d printed terrain and figures, and office 11x17 laser printer map

Stinger v. Commando, and of course the kid won.  We had a good time, but have not had the chance to get back to it yet with the more advanced rules (and more figures).  Some noises about playing with the friend and his kid, but then he got Covid, and with holidays and such I do not think it likely for a while. 

BattleTech: A Descent into Madness

 As fellow gamers, I know that you will understand how thin the line between "interest" and "obsession" can be.  I hope that you read the below as a cautionary tale, and take pity on the madness of your fellow gamer. 

Step 1 Buy a gift for a friend and his son.

My friend and his son have birthdays in the same week, and since he is an old school gamer, and his son is detail obsessed kid with a ton of time on his hands, I thought that they were well suited for a Battletech beginner boxed set.  This box comes with some basic rules, a couple of miniature robots (1-/250-1/300 scale), and other ephemera needed to play a few introduction games. Pretty good little box for $20. 

If you are not familiar with Battletech, it is a game of detailed robot combat, set about a thousand years in a dark age feudal future, where MechWarriors are the knights tromping about the galaxy.  Rules are little changed from the mid 80s, so hex based, very detailed, and with a number of additional books you can get to make them even more detailed.  Want to know the salary and healthcare benefits of the guy who fixes the left leg of the robot between battles?  You can!   And probably roleplay out the interaction when you cut his salary and threaten him with deportation if he does not keep up his job too. 

Step 2 Realize that I have some miniatures that could play with them

Long ago, I started on building a few 6mm armies for combat using Dirtside.  I bought a couple of metal Battletech figures from Ironwind, and then stuffed them in a box.  Recalling this, I dug out that box and looked at some pristine figures, still in blister after 16+ years.  Not unusual in this house, but in this case it paid off. 

Step 3 Remember that you have a 3D printer, and print some bases for the miniatures

The metal figures do not come with bases, and their integral bases are small and narrow, so not very useful for trying to stand up the figures.  I knocked out a basic 30mm hex base in Tinkercad, and printed a few of them. 

Step 4 Print some terrain for the gift

$20 seems sort of paltry for a gift for two people (even if it is the entry into a whole universe of fun!), so why not put that printer to work, and make a few trees and buildings to jazz up that starter set a bit?

Then my kid pointed out that more trees were needed to fill up the map, and I did not print any hills... so that part is still ongoing. 

Step 5 Print a few extra figures

Once I got a bit more into the lore, I realized that my metal mechs are out of period for the primary era of the game (3025).  Sort of like fighting a Great War Mark IV with an Abrams.  So I looked on thingiverse, and lo and behold there are Battletech figures on there.  Like a lot of figures.  So I selected a few likely sorts and printed them out.  At 3-6 hours each, printing is sort of a commitment, but not very much because what else is my printer doing, and they cost like $0.50 each. 

Shoddy primed picture of a Stinger, Whitworth, Hermes I, Assassin, Phoenix Hawk, and an Orion

Step 6 Start reading Sarna.net

Like Wikipedia, but for the Battletech universe.  Did you know that each mech, of which there are hundreds, has many variants each? Each with their own fictional history, manufacturers of parts, and canonical appearances?   Did you know that you can look at each planet of the galaxy and track its political affiliation and those of nearby systems with maps? Sarna is dangerous for obsessive nerds.  Many hours were lost. 

Step 7 Obsessively reread the Battle reports of 1000 Foot General    

Over at 1000 Foot General, John played a series of Battletech games in a campaign with his kid, and they are awesome.  He also has some house rules to smooth out the game play and campaign a bit, so that not every game devolves into last man standing bloodbaths.  Just some of them. 

Step 8 Print more figures

The danger of reading Sarna and learning about all of the cool mechs that exist, and reading 1000 Foot General, and seeing different mech types do cool stuff is that you then start to want more mechs...

Commando, Locust, Shadow Hawk, and a Jenner

Step 9 Make a few digital kitbash conversions

JVN-10A

Remember how in step 6 I mentioned that there are a lot of variants?  Well some are more complicated, but others are basically weapon swaps, like this Javelin-10A above, which trades out two short range missile launchers for one large long range one.  I took two models of the Javelin, cut the arms off (digitally) and reposed them, re-sculpted the chest plate, and then dropped in the larger long range missile launcher.  I also made a ruined base for the robot to stand on, because why not?

Step 10 Obsessively collect all the STLs available to the point that you have to make a spreadsheet to track everything

Currently 64 variants deep, not counting pose variants for common 'mechs. Still looking for good models for ~17 more.

Step 11 Make the spreadsheet more complicated

Now with alternate era mechs, more variants, tonnage, battlefield role and more information...

Step 12 Consider digitally sculpting missing figures

Can not find a good Panther Mech?  Well, it sort of looks like a Wolfhound with more armor and a different gun...

...still not have played a game

I do have some painted figures though! 

At 30-60mm tall, they paint up fast. 

Metal Cerberus assault Mech

Printed Javelin-10 light Mech

More madness to come.