Alpha Strike Battle Report: Draconis Combine vs FedCom/Eridani Light Horse

The defunct Diverse Optics strip mining facilities on Kessel are rumored to be a front for a secret research & development facility for coveted extended range laser technology.
The Federated Commonwealth, in an attempt to steal any secrets their ancient foe might have, hires the Eridani Light Horse to conduct a quick and dirty raid on the facility.
The Light Horse lances must quickly gain control of the mining complex to allow for ground search teams to land. Meanwhile the Yakuza, having a great presence on Kessel, mobilizes to defend their world with forces of their own…
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Bombing Run courtesy Lorc via game-icons.net under the CC-BY license.

[@Bafimar01]

Was fun to watch but I still prefer the detail of CBT.

[@rburt3]

Yes! Love you guys' bat reps but also *super* excited to see more Alpha Strike on the table.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks! And me too 😆

[@jonskowitz]

Looking at the casualties you'd swear it would have been a Steiner victory! All the same, "Take that To-Jo!" 😁

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Such is mission life.... they held ‘em off long enough 😄

[@farmcat_23]

So happy to see y'all doing more AS. It's way easier for bringing in new people to tabletop, but then once they're interested there seems to be a serious lack of available content in general compared to classic. And Eridani light horse is a great faction choice for showing off the advantages of AS when fielding larger combined arms forces without spending a whole weekend on a game.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for the comment - totally agree on all accounts.

[@BazztheBazz]

Really digging the modified Alpha Strike rules-- vanilla AS definitely makes the game go faster, but it's just a little *too* vanilla IMO. This looks like a great way to knock out a game in an hour and still have it feel like Battletech.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks man! And I would agree... hopefully wewill get another game on the books soon! 👍

[@warhammer5690]

Yes Eridani Light Horse!!!!!! Clicked like before vids started lol

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Haha enjoy.

[@phelyxz]

awesome production value guys! thanks!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for watching!

[@czarvak9186]

Light Horse?! Did someone order some Smoked Jaguar?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

lol

[@czarvak9186]

On a serious note. This was quite informative. Definitely will look at alpha strike again as it will take a little adjustment getting use to the "new" stuff

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Yah I personally was on/off with it for while - the right mix of optional rules seems to help a lot in giving it the right feel.

[@wttncfrep3628]

Love the battle report, fun to see Alpha strike on the table. Would love to see some slightly larger 350 point games. It was cool to see you guys have enough models on the board to try tactics like flanking, etc

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks man! Yah 350 is the target. We’ll work visibility, weather, infantry, artillery - and get some campaign action going too.

[@wttncfrep3628]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming looking forward to it, I love the campaigns you've done

[@Viewfromtheturret]

Great seeing Alpha Strike, but as others have, mentioned you want larger forces. That’s the point of AS - to see multiple lances in different roles. Think scout lance, medium lance and support lance at least. Then throw in some vehicles, infantry and airpower.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Agreed, but we’re also filming, cutting and animating on top of playing. But the other big piece is tactical depth. In my experience the board gets crowded pretty quick when each side has 18+ units. I’ve found it just becomes a slugfest with limited room for tactical movement. Mission play is non-sensical because you can cover everything, and focus fire melts destroyables. I think company vs company is a sweet spot for AS. We will step up to 12v12 (maybe a few more with infantry) down the road as we get more comfortable with the rules.

[@Joshf4phan]

Good stuff! Very informative as I'm looking to get AS going after lockdown ends. Probably going to do some on Tabletop Simulator soon. I'd tend to agree with Thom (if he was the one arguing against the partial cover) since the LRMs are coming in near vertically via indirect fire. Still, honor to the Dragon in defeating the filthy lucre warriors of the Federated Suns.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Good plan! We have some new missions dropping soon as well as an AS campaign supplement, so keep an eye out for them. 👍

[@gavincross2902]

Well done. Interesting simplified rules. Thanks fellas! :)

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Glad you enjoyed 👍 thanks for the comment as always!

[@Kaiju-Driver]

Absolutely great!

[@ZombieSexmachine]

Was a good game to watch. Good to see such a mix of units. VTOL getting those back hits and the cheap hovers caping zones. Near the end there was talk about cheap spotters for LRM carriers. I came across a odd unit, the HI- scout drone. No weapons but cheap and fast. 5-6 points in alpha strike or just 11 bv2. In classic you could field like 30 of them for the cost of one locust. Also if you thought the LRM carriers where good you should look at the Heavy LRM carriers. 20 tons heavier, cost more but deal a whopping 5 damage indirect fire and have the LRM's in a turret

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Youch that sounds nasty! Something else I came across - the Fire Lance formation has a special rule which allows you to IF without a spotter. 😈

[@ZombieSexmachine]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming O.O any modifiers? Like a extra +1 or 2 to hit? Can't wait for my book to come an i can dig into the meat of the rules

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Haha yes I haven’t fully unwound the rules but: - if you have a spotter you are at a -1 bonus for IF - you can IF without a spotter but take a +2 penalty... it says “this replaces any and all spotter penalties” so it’s maybe unclear if this also replaces the general +1 for IF, but I assume not so you are at +3 in total. ... which is +1 worse than normal IF, if your spotter was also shooting. So pretty useful imo.

[@chrisakasgt.scream3935]

I sure did enjoy your first AS battle report. As you said, you are still working on some own modifications to the rules to tailor them to your needs and what you think just feels better: will you sum those mods up and publish them later? It would be much appreciated. Keep up the good work guys 👏

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks! And yes - once we get things nailed down, we’ll get something out there for everyone 👍

[@FishyFLCL]

I need a battletech soundboard app, so I can use that during games

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Worth it

[@tapeglue8315]

I love the vids... but as an ex-Cav soldier, it's CAV not CAL! :)

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

LOL noted. 😁

[@bentreasure]

Tom wins an unusual amount of initiative

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I am equally suspicious and have sued for a dice recount 😁

[@bentreasure]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming haha nice. I have a request, could you guys do an Alpha Strike tutorial with the DFA multiple attack roll rules and the usage of SRM/LRM alternate munitions?

[@MontePlaysGames]

I like the choice of firing. More of a fan of the chain fire myself.

[@stevelucido266]

Really like your channel! Hope you do more Alpha Strike and possibly a campaign!?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for the comment! And definitely more AS on the way... we are looking at adopting our CBT campaign rules, but still working through the details. It's on the docket though!

[@rburt3]

I thought you guys didn't like the roll-per-point rule, but I see you added the pilot die to that which (as you do) really streamlines that whole process)

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Good question! And... Yeah - we had a lengthy convo with some subscribers in the HPU comments section. I took a second look at things, and the math of the variable damage really, notably punishes units with more damage. After stewing, we made the decision to go back to variable attacks/hits and run with it. More balanced and fair, but keeps play moving quickly. 👍

[@rburt3]

Nice paint on those Light Horse (the Combine always looks good too, even though they're the bad guys ;))

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks! Kevin can take credit for the Red Devil ‘Mechs. 😊

[@jlovett78]

Good game, love the extra tech and sound effects you guys do. Not as big a fan of the alpha strike, would prefer more total war and the detailed realistic game that it is. Still, great vid, thanks for posting.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for the kind words and feedback! I hear you on CBT and Total Warfare, though I think where we are heading in AS (12v12+ with various unit types) would take me 2 days of playing haha

[@death2all79zx]

Noble brights versus weebs, too bad they both can't lose. Love your battle reports

[@odie1973ro]

AWESOME battle report, keep it up =]

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks! Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

[@revenvrake7412]

I admit I misread the title and thought this was a cbt game with only 250bv allowed and I thought you crazy guys were running an infantry fire team on fire team game.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

LOL that would have been something else... 😆

[@Sigdowner]

Loving the larger forces and map! But there is something I didn't quite catch. In AS you usually get a to-hit modifier for your move stat even if you stand still, but you are not doing that here are you? I personally like that rule, makes light and med mechs so much better.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

If you mean TMM then yes we are using that! Its essential! The dice next to each unit represents it’s TMM and mode of movement... we add that into the target number. Let me know if we missed somewhere though... 🙂

[@Sigdowner]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming ah, got it wrong, then, thanks!

[@Wonko-bj4jx]

Great to see Alpha Strike here, please keep it coming. Are those Gabriel minis actually IWM Savannah Masters?

[@zot8218]

What a game! I am slightly disappointed that they are raiding a diverse optics facility instead of some spice mines... too bad Kevin is playing the dirty dreks instead of a Davion force, makes it harder to root for one side over the other, gotta go with the Davion side though! I like the speed and total warfare with extra toys on the table aspect that you guys are bringing to the alpha strike, but I agree with the other comment that I miss the detail of classic ... also did I mention the speed of the game?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for the comment! And yah agree here... it is a speed vs complexity tradeoff. I also love being able to field more stuff - trying to run that same game in CBT would have been a lot more time.

[@zot8218]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming agreed but regardless of the game mode Thom has been letting me and house Davion down, he needs to step up his rolling game! Hahaha

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

LOL +1

[@jonrgreen1]

How do you set up the boards with the hills under those Neaprin mats

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Hey Jon - we have a video in our hobby tutorial playlist that runs through it.

[@adamcondon5120]

Do some how to play vids for alpha strike.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

We’ll get to it soon 👍

[@ulricgrey5219]

Yes More AS. Not Saying I dont like CBT, but getting to use more of your models justifies buying more models for play. Helios they are far more valunerable to motive crits then the tanks. They can be far more difficult to deal with though. Are you going to do a post of your custom rules for AS? also Remember that a vehicle that is immoble ( even a tank) is considered destroyed by Force Withdrawal rules. Page 126 under critical damage of the Alpha strike Commanders edition. I would love it if tanks became bunkers but....

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks man! And yes... I will get those rules posted up on the website sooner rather than later. 😁 Maybe I’ll do a quick vid as well.

[@ulricgrey5219]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Thanks for the reply, I used to be a Demo guy for CGL in my area, then Life happened. Because of that I seem like a rule asshat, but its your game and I love what you guys are doing for the hobby. Keep it up DFA!

[@UofTguy]

Just so I'm clear, you guys are halving both movement and range of fire? So 6" move becomes 3" and Short Range goes from 6" to 3"?

[@KevinPeterstheRyan]

Tyler Delaney Yes, we treat 1hex=1” in CBT, so for AS we halve all range related movement, mods, costs. Bonus for us, is it allows us to include an extreme range bracket and have more tactical movement before contact.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Yup - so also don’t forget to halve things to artillery AOEs and other “distance based” things.

[@UofTguy]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Gotcha. I like the sounds of this because I only have a 4x4 playing surface. So it should give the feeling of a larger battlefield. Two questions: 1) Does it make slow mechs feel too slow? 3" move seems really prohibitive. 2) Does it mess with scale and your feeling of immersion at all? I assume you're not halving the size of your terrain pieces etc.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Its exactly how we play CBT in terms of scale, so no you don’t need to rescale. Remember things can sprint, so that Atlas can still move 3/5! Also keep in mind distance = rate x time. The big assumption is a hex is 30 meters because its based on a 10 second turn. Pretend its a 5 second turn and that hex is only 15m. A 2.5 second turn and its 7.5m. ... so really don’t let scaling throw you for a loop. It’s fake news 😁

[@UofTguy]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming haha yeah fair. It's all relative I guess. But it does mean your mechs are firing twice as fast!

[@DwarfElvishDiplomacy]

Are some of these models 3D printed?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Yes they are!

[@DwarfElvishDiplomacy]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming we live in interesting times in which you can spot the homemade things because they are of much better quality ;)

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

LMFAO! Well hopefully not for much longer with the kickstarter looming!

[@OldGuyRetros]

No to.hit locations on a 2d6 roll of 12

[@warhammer5690]

Lol going to smuggle spice??

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Only took us just under 12 parsecs.