"Battletech Help" Topic

I am starting out in Battletech and thought I would begin with Alpha Strike rules and a couple of Mechs. Can anyone suggest figures as I am overwhelmed by the hundreds of Mechs available. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Ed

Hi

I would go with Phoenix Hawk, Thunderbolt, Archer, and a Stinger for classic BT

Thanks for the prompt reply. Will these give me a sample of different characteristics to experiment with.

Battlemaster/ Griffin/Warhammer/Raven

I like to build my forces with some of the great houses in mind. First pick a time frame. To learn the game I always suggest 3024 which is pre-clan invasion and succession war era. The game is slower but forces you to mind your heat, even in alpha strike. Each 4 mechs are a lance. The smallest inner sphere formation and will contain 1 mech of each weight class.

Draconis Combine/ House Kurita- Panther, Shadow Hawk, Dragon, Charger

Federated Suns/ House Davion- Valkyrie, Enforcer, Marauder, Victor

Capellan Conferderation/ House Liao- Raven, Vindicator, Cataphract, Goliath

Free Worlds League/ House Marik- Locust, Hermes 2, Orion, Battlemaster

Lyman Commonwealth/ House Steiner- Wolfhound, Griffin, Thunderbolt, Zeus

As you go on playing the game you will notice little nuances each faction tends to favor. For instance House Steiner favors heavy and assault class mechs. A starter lance for them could just as easily go Griffin, Warhammer, Zeus, Atlas.

Federated suns tend to favor cavalry style medium mechs with jump jets and auto cannons. A lance for them would be Enforcer, Enforcer, Wolverine, Victor.

Find the style that suits you and go from there and always remember… Speed is life!

That's hard to pin down… if you go with a few of the same weight, you get some exposure to different ideas… you could get a couple of 20 tonners, Wasp, Stinger, and Locust to fight each other (Wasp and Stinger jump, Locust runs really fast). Or 70 ton Archer vs 70 ton Warhammer. Really though, there are so many designs, its difficult to just suggest a few.

However, most of the mechs listed above are the old basic set or designs, so are supposedly "common" designs in the Battletech Universe, and not tied too closely to specific factions….

Wasp, Stinger, Locust, Phoenix Hawk, Shadow Hawk, Griffin, Thunderbolt, Wolverine, Crusader, Rifleman, Marauder, Warhammer, Archer, Battlemaster.

Chalfant

I would go the easy way and get the lance boxes that Catalyst put out for Alpha Strike.

auction

Each pack contains 4 mechs (a full lance) and has the Alpha Strike cards stat cards to go with them. So you have a full lance ready to game with right out of the box. How balanced are they? I'm not sure. These lances are mission oriented so you have strike lances, assault lances, command lances, and so on. But if you buy two of the same box then you have a perfect little starting force.

I personally like this lance,

auction

You have a nice, mobile but hard hitting lance with some neat mechs. It has a very Davion flavor with a mix of medium, autocannon armed mechs. The Jenner and Clint can also be farmed out to Kurita and Liao respectively. However they fit nicely with the other two, more Davion mechs as captured mechs put to use by House Davion. Time line wise you can use most of them through out the Sucession Wars up to the modern era. They are a best fit for the 3039 War.

link

I would also suggest getting the core box set for Battletech too if you can find it for a reasonable price. This time last year you could get it for $60. USD It seems to have jumped up to a crazy price these days. But I includes quite a number of plastic mechs that you can use for Alpha Strike. The stat cards you need are on the Battletech website.

Have fun!!

That classic Battletech box start set is hard to beat. You get a ton of mechs to start with and you get the classic BT rules if you feel the urge to play them. I love Alpha Strike and BT and that box set is a great value.

I'd advise the basic Battletech "Introductory Box" set as well. It's the cheapest way to get a bunch of mechs and for the last printing they upgraded the quality of the mechs. You'll get 26 Mechs. Look them over and simply choose the ones that appeal to you most to start with or pick the ones that most closely align with a given faction.

Various folks have posted faction breakdowns of the boxed set online.