On a late November Friday evening we played the elite scenario in the BATTLETECH Alpha Strike Quick Start Rules. We decided to give this, apparently “light-weight” version of BATTLETECH a try.
The feuding nobles have escalated to a war. Both sides have brought in reinforcements, and rushed their forces to the source of their feud, the ownership of a small ammunition factory. You must capture the factory intact, or make sure the opposing noble has nothing to celebrate either.
We each fielded around 245 Points of Mechs.
| Eric | Point value | David | Point value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battlemaster BLR-4S | 44 | Battlemaster BLR-10S | 50 |
| Thunderbolt TDR-5SE | 35 | Awesome AWS-8Q | 39 |
| Marauder MAD-3R | 35 | Thunderbolt TDR-5SE | 35 |
| Dragon DRG-1N | 30 | Catapult CPLT-K2 | 32 |
| Quickdraw QKD-4G | 30 | Griffin GRF-1S | 31 |
| JagerMech JM6-S | 26 | Wolverine WVR-6R | 30 |
| Raven RVN-2X | 22 | Locust LCT-1V | 18 |
| Jenner JR7-D | 20 | Commando COM-3A | 17 |
| 242 points | 252 points |
David used his Alpha Strike unit cards form his Game of Armoured Combat box set plus 1 printed of the Master Unit List (MUL) for his Battlemaster, which strangely wasn’t included in said box. I printed all my cards off the MUL.
Also, we used the punch-out tokens ans some cardboard terrain pieces from the official Alpha Strike token set. Other than that, we placed some hills, small-scale forests, rocks and buildings on the 6×4 Rock Desert gaming mat by Kraken Wargames.
Once our Mechs were set up within 10 inches of their home edges, we moved them into their positions.
Some Mechs quickly jumped to more elevated positions.
Physical Attacks
I charged my newly painted Dragon, the one from my Reposing tutorial, into David’s lighter Commando.
We had a messy brawl going between 2 Battlemasters and other Mechs.
I took advantage of my size 3 jumping Thunder Bolt to deal “Death from Above” to David’s lightweight Locust, which didn’t survive it. I inflicted 3 points of damage to my Mech though …
In the 5th and final round, I managed to encircle David’s Catapult with my Dragon and JagerMech, only to deal the decisive blow.
My still going Thunderbolt charged David’s green Thunderbolt and gave it the coup de grâce. David was the first player to loose half of his Mechs.
Thus, I won this intro battle of Alpha Strike Quick Start Rules.
Also, David didn’t destroy that factory. If he would have, the game would have ended in a draw.
Thoughts
We encountered a minor problem during our close combat. The Alpha Strike Quick Start Rules don’t mention how to escape from your opponent’s melee. At least we couldn’t find anything. As a consequence, once locked in close quarters, there was no chance of repositioning yourself.
The game went relatively fast for a battle with 2 lances (8 Mechs) per side, considering we’ve never played it before. Without setup, we finished the scenario in about 2 hours.
The Quick Start Rules are not too bad. In fact, they are pretty solid as a standalone light-weight rules system. They seem to be quite complete for Mech on Mech combat. The other types of units and most of the special rules were missing, which isn’t a problem in my opinion. As said, the only thing we were desperately looking for, was a rule to disengage from close combat.
Last, but not least, it reminded me slightly of Horizon Wars: the stats and the slow degrading of basic unit stats after taking hits for instance.
Alpha Strike vs. Classic BATTLETECH
The following is purely my own opinion. To me, it’s a quicker alternative to CBT. But, I don’t find AS necessarily easier. The Quick Start rules for Classic BATTLETECH, although leaving out some main concepts, are in my opinion easier than Alpha Strike’s Quick Start rules. Classic BATTLETECH to me, with its record sheets, feels closer to an RPG-miniature-wargame hybrid, than say a standard tabletop miniature wargame. If that makes any sense.
Personally, I have a preference for Classic BATTLETECH though. I prefer the detail, the weapon and heat management, basically its simulationist approach. Sure, it’s slower and needs a higher investment of time, of which I have very little lately, but to me it feels more immersive and rewarding. But, in comparison, Alpha Strike is a great change of pace, and an absolutely viable alternative for small-scale sci-fi wargaming in these busy times. And a good excuse to field all my painted Mechs.
Of course, let’s not forget to mention our drink of the night: Divin Bardar, a pleasant 7 years old brandy from Moldova. Noroc!1
- Cheers in Romanian ↩︎