"Alpha Strike" Topic

Catalyst Game Labs are currently working on a new supplemental rulebook called Alpha Strike; which will take the Quick-Strike rules currently buried in BattleTech: Strategic Operations and put it in its own full-colour hardback print volume.

Alpha Strike: The TableTop Miniatures Rulebook

[Cover "in progress" by the brilliant Alex Iglesias.]

When we published Strategic Operations several years ago, a lot of people instantly fell in love with what is really a pretty small part of the book…the Quick-Strike Rules. And we immediately began getting questions of "when will you release a stand-alone rulebook of that?"

For those wondering what Quick-Strike is, the easiest answer is that it is the truest form yet published for being able to play BattleTech in a true "tabletop miniatures" style and speed, while still feeling like your playing BattleTech.

At the start of the year I had been thinking heavily about this, especially after years, at this point, of seeing plenty of people playing BattleTech in this manner at conventions. I then pitched the concept to Herb of a complete, stand-alone rulebook that would be the "table-top miniatures game" play of BattleTech. As it happened, great minds think alike and Herb had already been working an an epub release. I felt we shouldn't only go half way on that and instead should embrace a full print book, full-color, hardback…the works (I know…shocking I wanted the kitchen sink in there…).

With that we got to work. The original outline, unfortunately, even for us, was way, way too much data as we wanted to cover every Era and even provide samples armies for all such Eras…the book might have been one of the biggest we've ever published…not to mention being crazy intimidating for other tabletop miniatures players that might want to give this a try.

So we immediately started trimming back, while still ensuring the book will provide a complete, full BattleTech experience that would have players coming back for more. This also allows for the creation of a series of great epubs to build upon the solid framework of Alpha Strike.

But wait…if they were called Quick-Srike why are we calling this Alpha Strike?! Well, to be honest, in hindsight the former is just too close to "Quick-Start" and we've gotten a fair bit of confusion along the way…hence a more unique name this time around.

We're currently on track to have this at Gen Con with the book available to the public in September…or at least that's the current plans…will see if it survives drop insertion….

In the meantime, this is the first of several blogs where I'll discuss this great project…the drive flare of an incoming DropShip, announcing its coming…we'll start getting into the bowels of what the ship carries in the coming weeks and months.

See ya there…

Randall

There's been talk about AS in recent BattleChats; here's a list of details gleaned from there so far:

• It will be a full-colour supplemental rulebook, in a similar vein as A Time of War Companion (in terms of its relation to the Total Warfare through whatever Interstellar Operations will end up being axis) but as a stand-alone introduction to the Quick-Strike game engine.
  
• It will have support for both hex-based and hexless play.
  
• It will most likely be initially presented as a Clan Invasion product.
  
• The first batch of pdf expansions are in the works.
  
• Certain unit types, such as LAMs (and whatever "new" toys we may get in 3145), are not covered in the first book, but are options for later expansions.
  
• There is a somewhat limited WarShip presence in the core book, but they are more likely to show up in force in a later expansion.
  
• More in-depth support for other eras (such as the Dark Age) might also be fodder for later expansions.
  
• The core rules are done, and "crash" playtesting is afoot. Work on other written material for the project is in progress.
  
• It should be released (fingers crossed) before the end of the year.
  
• In the longer run, the existence of AS as "its own thing" may have an effect on future sourcebooks and TROs, in terms of how the unit cards for new toys might be presented.
  

In case you're unfamiliar with this scale of play, Alpha Strike uses the same Unit Cards currently available for BattleForce; many of which are currently listed on the Master Unit List website. (For example, this page shows the Unit Card for the Timber Wolf Prime.)

Does AS look like it might be of interest to anyone?

YES!!! I was contemplating buying stratops just for the quick Strike rules. Maybe, I'll be waiting a bit now.

Anyone got a review of how the Quick Strike rules work at the moment? Never seen them, but they sound interesting.

Your not the only one sharkbait I was thinking about buying at least the PDF starops just for the quick strike rules. Really glad I didn't do that now.

YES! IT'S ABOUT BLOODY TIME!!!

Yeah, Quickstrike is a nice set of rules. My preference for using Battletech. I'm not quite as thrilled hearing it will start with the Clans though. I'd prefer 3025.

Thanks,

John

+1 John: 3025 fo' life. ;)

There are already a number of Unit Card pdf packs based on various TROs, which should be pretty much good to go with Alpha Strike. (See the ones listed under Quick-Strike on this page.)

Personally, I'd be more excited to see the game go in the other direction, and catch up to the new material being published for 3145 in "classic" BattleTech.

Fortunately, with the kind of alternate era support CGL has set up, there should be enough room in the release schedule for all six current eras to be covered in the fullness of time… and, perhaps, whatever awaits us in the post-ilClan/3250 (if that ends up happening) future setting.

I'd prefer Alpha Strike for 3025 as well :-(

It might give some traction to these little guys.

link

Long time fan of the BT universe, but not as happy with the rules. Trying CBT at Little wars kind of confirmed my feelings about it.

However, being a fan of fast-play games, I am so very excited about this. I also am more a fan of 3025, but if they keep compatibility with the BT/QStrike cards that exist, 3025 players will have everything they need.

One question I do have. Is QS granular enough to really cover the differences in technology in the different eras? In my brief look at the QUickstrike rules and cards that presently exist, it looked like the differences in tech levels will be much less notable.

Doesn't bother me much, but some BT fans may feel differently.

That's why I favor 3025. The tech isn't an issue then. The Clans make things very different.

Thanks,

John

I don't have the Quick-Strike rules to hand, though I have downloaded the BattleForce intro PDF available at this link. (The main difference between BattleForce and Quick-Strike/Alpha Strike is that, in BF, each unit is an entire lance/Star/Level II, made up of Elements representing individual 'Mechs; whereas in QS/AS, each unit is a single 'Mech instead.)

Also, I had a thread running over on the BT forums asking about how a couple of 3145 sample units might look in Unit Card format.

In that thread, I was asking about how the conversion process from one game system to another takes place; the samples (the HD:2F Hound and Mad Dog/Vulture Mk IV Prime) are each taken from the preview PDF for Technical Readout: 3145 Mercenaries (the product page for which is over here).

The Hound is a fairly uncomplicated 70-ton design, which is built out in the Filtvelt Coalition during this time period and exported to various other Periphery states in the region. A first pass at its Unit Card stats are in this post, which I generated by inputting the BT stats for the 'mech into Solaris Skunk Werks.

HD-2F Hound

Type: BM
Size: 3
Move: 4/8"
Armour: 7
Structure: 6
S (+0): 3
M (+2): 3
L (+4): 2
OV: 0
PV: 14
Special: FLK (1/1/1), SRCH, SOA, SEAL, ES

The Mad Dog/Vulture Mk IV is a 60-ton Clan Sea Fox unit, built for sale to whoever can afford it. While the Hound is brand new to BattleTech courtesy of TRO:3145M, the Mk IV was originally featured in MechWarrior: Dark Age/Age of Destruction, and is only now offically added to "classic" BT (and soon on to Alpha Strike in turn). Based on the sample conversion process generously offered in the other thread, the Prime configuration currently translates into this set of stats. (There seems to be a set of errata updates in the works, that may or may not remove the SRM special stat and simply add those numbers to their respective range brackets instead; but we'll have to see if that does indeed pan out.)

Vulture (Mad Dog) Mk. IV Prime

Type: BM
Size: 3
Move: 5/10"
Armour: 8
Structure: 3
S (+0): 2
M (+2): 2
L (+4): 2
OV: 1
PV: 21
Special: SRM(2/2), CASE, OMNI, SRCH, SOA, SEAL, ES

Of the two, the Hound is more sturdy internally, with more structure points than its Clan counterpart. (Clan 'Mechs wih XL or XXL engines seem to be penalised by lowering the amount of structure points such units can operate with.) On the other hand, the Ferro-Lamellar armour of the Mk IV Prime fed into the amount of armour points it has in BT, which in turn increases the armour value it has on its Unit Card (to 8 instead of 7). Also, since the Mk IV Prime has CASE, it is at less risk from blowing up on the spot from an ammo critical (one of which would kill the Hound outright); but with so few structure points to go around anyway, that might only momentarily delay the inevitable.

In terms of firepower, the Hound more or less has to make do with its standard set of numbers, as well as the bonus it gets from the FLK(1,1,1) special rule, whatever that is. For the Mk IV Prime, not only does it have its base numbers (and those of its SRM[2,2] special) to play with, but can try to play the heat-building game with its OV score of 1. (That allows it to add one point of damage to a given attack, but requires a mark to be placed on the Heat track. Once your track gets to 4/S, your 'Mech overheats.)

Also, given the movement rates of each 'Mech, the Mk IV Prime gets an additional +1 to hit modifier over that given to the Hound; and in this scale, a unit always gets its movement to-hit bonus even if it actually moves less than its full amount in a given turn… so long as it doesn't overheat or take a movement critical, that is. (Overheating and critical hits are bad.)

So, in this case, the relatively straightforward Hound is a fairly solid and dependable 'Mech for its weight class, as Spheroid (or in this case, Periphery) units go. The Mk IV Prime is faster, better shielded by its agility, and has more flexible attacking options; but at the price of running with a scant few structure points to depend upon once that F-L armour is gone.

If anyone more familiar with the ruleset than I has spotted any mistakes I've made in there, please feel free to correct me on them.

Oh, and the split move rate is to show the difference between hex-based and hexless play; I marked it down as hexes/inches. (So, in this case, the Hound can move four hexes a turn if used on a hex map, or eight inches a turn if played using hexless terrain; whereas the Mk IV Prime can go 5 hexes, or 10 inches, instead.)

Does any of that help? (Again, assuming I've not messed anything up so far.)

Thank you!

HMmm, a faster play version of B-tech without all the ablative box-counting?

I am intrigued.

I loved playing BT back in its day but even then the meat grinder system of checking off boxes really wore on me at times, especially in bigger games.

In those days, I had a chance to play a fan-made conversion of BT to an existing micro-armor rules system out at the time and saw how the universe could play with more streamlined set of rules.

-Eli

So, of those here with an interest in picking this one up, how many of you would be primarily into using it for hex-based play, or would prefer to go hexless, or would expect to run a mix of both options in your own gaming groups?

Definitely hexless.

@Nerroth – both hex-based and hexless, depending on who I'm playing with.

Guys, as a HUGE fan of CBT when I was younger (read, 25 years ago), discovering QS was a Godsend. I introduced my 6 year old to it…and I did the math, but he pretty much directed where his forces went.

I play 6mm games (Epic, FWC, etc), and this has renewed my faith and interest in Battletech. My huge collection of maps and mechs will see the light of day now.

I feel that the gameplay is well done, streamlined but not mind-numbingly simple. I recommend it highly.

NOW…I want a competent scenario and campaign system to go with this, please!

One thing that could be interesting to see is how a more thorough treatment of WarShip combat in a e-pub expansion (if such a file were to exist at some point) might help increase the visibility of the BattleTech setting's support for black-water naval operations.

From what I gather from discussions over on CGL's BT boards, WarShip combat already works quite well in BattleForce scale. AS, in that case, could make for a handy platform to showcase this type of combat, as well as to add more options for the WarShip minis being sold by IWM.

Would anyone else be keen on seeing AS take on "true" WarShip combat, or would you be content with using the game for ground-based operations only?

I'd only be interested in ground actions.

Thanks,

John

I would probably only be interested in ground combat. But my interest in BT has never spanned all levels of opperation.

…And hexless. I MIGHT be interested in hex-based, if I had a nice hex-maps or Geo-Hex or such about, but I don't.

I loved playing BT back in its day but even then the meat grinder system of checking off boxes really wore on me at times, especially in bigger games.

We never used the data sheets. Just write the number for each section down, much quicker, very simple.
Are we the only ones that did that?

How, exactly, do these new rules "stream line" the game?

"Is QS granular enough to really cover the differences in technology in the different eras?"

I'm not sure what you're asking but I'll try to answer your question based on my playing QS. The differences between clan and IS at 3050 will still be there. Essentially clan will do more damage than their IS counterpart. They will also tend to have more armor, better movement, and more internal sturcture. Most of the same things you saw with classic battletech. Except I haven't found them as game changing in QS.

As far as advanced tech like what you would find in TacOps, there are rules for those as well. It's mainly in the special ability line on the stat card. And you'll find explanations for them in QS/AS.

Hope that helps.

"How, exactly, do these new rules "stream line" the game?"

They provide more of an abstract unit than does Classic Battletech. I like to refer to QS/AS as a squad level game versus classic battletech which I consider a skirmish level game.

QS/AS also have rules for heat traking but they're not as complex as CBT.

If you want a better look at the unit cards check out the master unit list here.

masterunitlist.info

It should provide you with about 90% of the known units in the CBT universe.

They will also tend to have more armor, better movement, and more internal sturcture.

I was under the impression that Clan 'Mechs (or rather, 'Mechs with XL or XXL engines) were penalised in QS/AS terms, by having a reduced number of Structure points than equivalent 'Mechs with standard engines.

For example, the Unit Card for the Royal-variant Black Knight BL-6b-KNT shown here has more structure points than the XL-equipped "Clanbuster" BL-9-KNT variant on this page; while the Timber Wolf Prime linked to in the opening post sits closer to the latter in terms of its own number of structure points.

Or does this kind of thing (which also shows up in the difference between the Hound and the Mad Dog [Vulture] Mk IV examples further up the thread) not apply across the board?

Nerroth---- Sorry, I was blending the tech levels in a general way. If you look strictly at 3050 and assume that most of the IS wont have XL engines then you are right. Clans have less internal structure than their IS opponents. Keep in mind also that the BL-9-KNT has an IS XL engine.

This is the only way to play Battletech. I sincerely wish Catalyst would rebrand Battletech using these rules, and then relegate the old-style Battletech to a specialist game…

Nerroth---- Sorry, I was blending the tech levels in a general way. If you look strictly at 3050 and assume that most of the IS wont have XL engines then you are right. Clans have less internal structure than their IS opponents. Keep in mind also that the BL-9-KNT has an IS XL engine.

Duly noted, thanks.

This is the only way to play Battletech. I sincerely wish Catalyst would rebrand Battletech using these rules, and then relegate the old-style Battletech to a specialist game…

I don't see why CGL can't run "classic" BT alongside AS as a companion game going forward. There are players of BT who will not go to AS, and vice versa; better to have a large enough Venn diagram to cover both groups (to include those who might "double-dip" into both games at once) than to make a conscious decision to jettison one portion of the fanbase in favour of another.

To compare with another game setting, ADB keep Star Fleet Battles going while also offering the likes of Federation Commander, along with the "joint venture" adaptations to the Starmada and A Call to Arms game engines. (Another such deal will see a Star Fleet iteration of Squadron Strike show up in the not too distant future.) Not everyone who plays one incarnation of the SFU plays any (or all) of the others, but there is enough room to go around, one would hope.

QS/AS may eventaully become more popular but AS is tied to CBT. All of the stats for AS are derived from formulas and charts that include hard numbers from CBT. You can't have AS without CBT.

There's something of an irony in all of this, for my part at least. I'm looking forward to whatever future expansion might bring AS into the Dark Age; but for that to happen, the units which were first introduced in MW:DA/AoD (along with any "new" units which Catalyst see fit to add to the era, such as the aforementioned Hound and the mysterious QuadVees) need first to be published in the various Technical Readout: 3145 PDF volumes before the BattleForce/Quick-Strike/Alpha Strike Elements can be generated.

Until we have Record Sheets and supporting rules to handle the likes of the Shiro, the Warwolf, and the Ares Poseidon, we can't get Unit Cards for them either.

Hopefully, by the time all 8 PDFs (and the TRO:3145 print version) are released, "classic" BT will have finally caught up with the full array of units listed over here; which would then allow AS to do the same in turn.

I just compared the units listed in 3145:Mercs to Solaris Skunk Werks and found all the equipment listed in the program. If you are that interested in generating stats for those units you can use SSW. It may take awhile intering the data but atleast you'll get somewhat of a base line. Hope that helps.

I like what I've played of Quick Strike, but damn, I hope Alpha Strike changes this: "Special: FLK (1/1/1), SRCH, SOA, SEAL, ES"

Yes, I appreciate that abbreviations and acronyms are perfectly valid means of communication, but the way they're handled is just hideous. When I played, I made up my own rosters and rewrote the abbreviations so that we could play without the hassle. IIRC some of the above is basically "this mech has a searchlight and basic environmental sealing," so every damn mech has SRCH SEAL cluttering up its record card. Compare it with the other mech posted above: "Special: SRM(2/2), CASE, OMNI, SRCH, SOA, SEAL, ES"

OK, so CASE is actually a thing, and OMNI too, although I'm not sure being an omnimech is important enough to be listed alongside something like CASE, which actually has gameplay effects (like stopping that half-ton of MG ammo a drunk mech-designer scrawled on the blueprints from going off like a nuke). SRM & CASE (and SOA or ES if those two actually do anything should be there), but the rest can be shuffled off down to a line of useful notes at the very bottom of the card. Or the reverse. FLK is probably flak, so it's a mech with some weapons well-suited to AA? In that case, could somebody please buy the designers some vowels?

INCASE[FLK EQAL "flak"] GAMDES VWLPRCHS.

It's still not as stupid as Clanner battle language (WE HATE CONTRACTIONS IN SPEECH, THEREFORE COMLANG BATCHAT QUIAFF?) but at least that's funny. This is just a minor annoyance in a set of rules that are otherwise great for fast play.

I looked it up. SOA means that the mech can fight in space. This is clearly as important as the presence of SRMs! ES is an ejection system, which would be useful to know but is standard on most mechs. FLK is indeed a to-hit bonus vs aircraft.

A lot of this stuff probably makes a bit more sense in full BattleForce, which is why I hope they clean it up – at least the formatting – for Alpha Strike.

In conclusion, two mechs were posted above. One has five entries on its Special line, the other has seven. Only three (total) are relevant to play unless you're doing something deeply weird, like combining Quick Strike with the High Speed Closing Engagements rules from StratOps and fighting on the surface of warships hurtling towards each other at incredible speeds, and one of the mechs was halfway through having its weapons loadout changed in a mech bay open to vacuum when hostilities commenced.

(if you are doing this, then I wish to play in your game, and have you considered integrating the Train and Erupting Volcano rules from TacOps?)

The batest BattleBlog update has included a provisional table of contents from the core Alpha Strike rulebook:

BattleTech: Alpha Strike Table of Contents
On June 6, 2013

Herb and his great crew continue to pound on Alpha Strike to get it ready for heading to the printer in the near future. In the meantime, thought I'd share the current Table of Contents (subject to change, of course).

Welcome to Alpha Strike!

Alpha Strike Basics

Alpha Strike vs. Total Warfare
What's Needed to Play Alpha Strike

Alpha Strike at a Glance

Additional Material

Introductory Alpha Strike

Components

The Unit Card

Setup

Choosing Army Lists
Placing Terrain

Playing the Game

Sequence of Play
Victory Conditions

Movement Phase

Terrain
Jumping

Combat Phase

Resolving Weapon Attacks
Resolving Physical Attacks
Overheating

End Phase

Damage
Heat

Special Abilities

Special Ability Descriptions

Standard Alpha Strike

Components

Additional Game Terms for Standard Alpha Strike

Setup

Choosing Scenario Types
Choosing Forces
Placing Terrain

Playing the Game

Sequence of Play
Victory Conditions
Forced Withdrawal (Optional)

Movement Phase

Unequal Number of Units
Terrain
Additional Movement Rules

Combat Phase

Resolving Weapon Attacks
Resolving Physical Attacks
Overheating

End Phase

Damage
Heat

Special Abilities

Special Ability Descriptions
C3 Networks

Abstract Aerospace System

Control Rolls

Aerospace Setup

The Radar Map
Placing Aerospace Forces on the Radar Map

Abstract Aerospace Gameplay

Abstract Aerospace Movement

Abstract Aerospace Combat

Resolving Aerospace Air-to-Ground Attacks
Resolving Aerospace Air-to-Air Attacks
Resolving Ground-to-Air Combat

Aerospace End Phase

Ending Air-to-Air Engagements
Aerospace Damage

Advanced Options

Advanced Movement Modes

Climbing
Evading
Leaping
Intentional Falls from Above
Sprinting
Transporting Non-Infantry Units

Advanced Terrain

Buildings
Deep Snow
Gravel Piles
Hazardous Liquid Pools
Heavy Industrial
Ice
Jungle
Magma
Mud
Planted Fields
Rails
Rough, Ultra
Rubble, Ultra
Sand
Swamp
Tundra
Water (Expanded)
Woods (Expanded)
Bogging Down

Aerospace Units on the Ground Map

Aerodyne Units
Spheroid Units and Airships
Landing Rolls
Aerospace Unit Transports
Partial Cover

Artillery

On-Board Artillery vs. Off-Board Artillery
Resolving Artillery Attacks

Alternate Munitions

Alternate Artillery Munitions
Alternate Autocannon Munitions
Alternate Bomb Munitions (Bombs/Aerospace Missiles)
Alternate Narc/iNarc Pods
Alternate LRM Munitions
Alternate SRM Munitions

Battlefield Intelligence
Buildings

Building Types
Movement Effects
Attacking Buildings
Walls

Concealing Unit Composition

Blip Counters
Concealing Record Sheets
Concealing Unit Capabilities

Coordinate System

Creating a Coordinate

Dropping Troops

High-Altitude Drop
Low-Altitude Drop
Zipline Drop

ECM/ECCM
Ejection/Abandoning Units
Environmental Conditions

Atmospheric Density
Darkness
Earthquake
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)
Fissures
Gravity
Temperature
Tornado
Wind
All Other Conditions

Fire and Smoke

Fires
Smoke
Spreading Fires
Fire and Units

Hidden Units

Hiding on the Ground
Surprise Attacks from Hidden Units

Large Support Vehicles, Mobile Structures, and DropShips

Boarding and Repelling

Minefields
Targeting and Tracking Systems
Terrain Conversion
Special Abilities

Special Ability Descriptions

Converting Alpha Strike to Hex Maps

Converting Movement and Distances
Line of Sight

Campaign Play

Setting Up the Campaign

Force Creation
Campaign Turns
Determine Outcome Phase

Logistics

The Total Chaos Campaign
Tracks
Situation and Game Setup
Warchest and Objectives
Special Rules
Aftermath and Next Track
Warchest Point System
Warchest Points Between Tracks
Skill Advancement
Warchest Campaign Record Sheet

Meeting Engagement

Situation
Game Setup
Warchest
Objective
Special Rules
Next Track

Breakthrough

Situation
Game Setup
Warchest
Objective
Special Rules
Next Track

Assault

Situation
Game Setup
Warchest
Objective
Special Rules
Next Track

Counterattack

Situation
Game Setup
Warchest
Objective
Special Rules
Next Track

Pursuit

Situation
Game Setup
Warchest
Objective
Special Rules
Next Track

Defense

Situation
Game Setup
Warchest
Objective
Special Rules
Next Track

Era Setting: Clan Invasion (3048-3062)

The Clan Invasion
The Marik-Liao Offensive
The Refusal War
The Second Star League
The St. Ives War
The First Combine-Dominion War

Key Conflicts and Campaigns

The Clan Invasion
The Marik-Liao Offensive
The Refusal War
Operation BULLDOG
The St. Ives War
The First Combine-Dominion War

Factional Overview: Clan Invasion Era

Special Alliances and Enmities
Factional Special Abilities (Optional)

The BattleTech Universe

House Davion (Federated Suns)
House Kurita (Draconis Combine)
House Liao (Capellan Confederation)
House Marik (Free Worlds League)
House Steiner (Lyran Commonwealth)
ComStar
Word of Blake
The Clans
The Periphery

A History of War

Colonizing the Stars
The Age of War
The Star League
The Succession Wars
The Clan Invasion
Civil War Era
The Word of Blake Jihad
The Dark Age

BattleTech Resources

Core Rulebooks
Technical Readouts
Historical Sourcebooks
Maps, Terrain, and Miniatures
Fiction

Choose Your Rules

Gamemaster Adjudication
Fiction vs. Rules

There ya go! Very deep look into this coming book…hopefully next time we'll have a final cover to show off!

Till next time…

Randall

The pre-final cover is up:

Looking good,hopefully it won't be long utile its out.

The first preview PDF for AS has just gone live.

Presumably, as was done for SR5, there will be a number of follow-up freebies in the run-up to the publication of the full rulebook.

EDIT: And speaking of which, it may be worth looking to the last page of that preview file…

Good grief, just drop the damn pdf on a web server instead of these ridiculous account walls.

The whole point of a preview is to make sure as many people as possible can see and get excited for your game, why put it behind services that require account registration?

It's 2013, and despite what they want to believe, Battletech is no longer so dominant that the masses will run out to make accounts just to download a crappy preview PDF.

And here is preview 2, with a revised MSRP. (Reportedly, the first preview's price listing was an error.)

A new blog update.

One part in particular stood out:

"Are you going to support Alpha Strike further?" I can hear you asking. Sure. Ideas are already being jotted down for what we could put into an "Alpha Strike Companion" for print down the line, Era Faction Army List PDFs (cause we've got a pile of factions and Eras), we're even looking into what full-color Alpha Strike Unit Cards sold as decks of cards might look like…

Alpha Strike went up today in PDF form over on the BattleShop and on DriveThruRPG.

This surfaced over on the BT boards:

Just to add my two bits into the 'will it support 3025' debate, there's nothing in the rules that prevent AS that I can see from being used with 3025-era mechs. They'll have less special equipment and the like, but that's why people like the era anyway. : )

You might have to dig through the MUL ( masterunitlist.info ) to find the 3025 stats, but I *think* the Battleforce stats for each unit are the same as the Alpha Strike ones, except you double the movement rate.

-Will

There is a major effort ongoing to update the MUL in order to make all of the Unit Cards listed there compatible with the Alpha Strike ruleset. Once these changes are made, the update should go up all at once.

Not counting any new units which may be published after this update is finished, that is. (I wonder how many of the 3145 units will make the cut during this grand update? Time will tell…)

Also, once this happens, the BattleForce rules in Strategic Operations are set to be errata-ed in order to incorporate the adjustments made to this scale of play in the run-up to AS' publication.

That card is one of 90 colour laminated Unit Cards to be sold as a set at GenCon.

Cool. Wait, crud! Anyone want to mule some for me?