BATTLETECH Jump Point S2 Ep14 | Running a Tournament | Video Podcast

[@Deusorum]

I had a blast in the Classic Battletech tournament at the Las Vegas Open. Among other things, it had a really cool list-building rule that required you to choose a faction and then build a list from that faction that evolved, era by era. You gradually upgraded mechs, swapped some out for new designs in new eras, etc. as the tournament went on. It really added a new dimension to list building, because you had to think about where your list was going to end up several eras later and plan accordingly, or you'd end up with a list that was good in Succession Wars but garbage in Civil War/etc. The tournament also gave points for swapping out and upgrading units, restricting unit choices (to avoid spam lists/spamming unbalanced weapons), etc. that gave people a good, strong incentive to build balanced lists if they wanted to win.

[@redbaronsnoopy2346]

That sounds very interesting. I will have to look for that Tournament and view it and/or participate in it. Sounds entertaining & engaging.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Ive heard good things about LVO!

[@johnhennon3694]

​@@DeathfromAboveWargaming come out west, homie

[@redbaronsnoopy2346]

As always, great content Aaron. Thank you all for the time and efforts!

[@Geotku]

Absolutely awesome content!

[@kenhodge9046]

Yes! Hopefully soon! I am pretty stoked about painting this little guy (Flea).

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Same!! But which faction…. 🤔 so many to choose.

[@kenhodge9046]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming The true Dilemma... What faction! Merc or my FWL!

[@bruced648]

the tournament I ran in December had 16 player spots, double elimination (minimum 2 matches per player). NO POINTS (bv2) all pilots were 3/3 pre 3049 select 4 mechs, 1 per weight class. the event was fantastic and players loved the fact that 'game balance' was completely thrown out the window. the entry fee ($10) went directly into prize support. gift certificates for the store. the store manager also threw in a couple of prizes that went randomly to some players.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Love it!

[@sebastiang.5032]

I'd love to see some BT:Override tournaments being played.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Shocked to hear this from you 🤓

[@HouseMasterPoDing]

Ah, the dreaded Kestrel MedEvac! I have these built into my Kurita opfor, and they are great! Glad to see you spreading the good word of the MedEvac! A Strategy worthy of a Capellan!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Haha stealth armor medevac coming to a battlefield near you.

[@lorcannagle]

The BattleTech Open format is very popular in Europe, with tournaments run in the UK, Ireland, Spain and Germany every year at least - the European Open was actually yesterday with 40 participants! It gets past a lot of the min-maxing concerns because the tournament runs three to four rounds, you play with different units in each round, and the players are restricted to 5-6 choices that are pre-selected by the tournament organisers. Depending on the TO, the choices can be one or two mechs, and when there's two it's usually a case of two "primary" mechs paired with one of three "secondary" ones. So you might have options of a Marauder with a Griffin, Crusader or Orion; or a Warhammer with a Griffin, Crusader or Orion. the variants will be the same in each case but each pairing will be balanced by BV. To negate the possibility of a lucky headcap or floating crit, players have a supply of edge points to allow rerolls, usually either one per game or two for the entire tournament, depending on the TO. While this can feel a bit restrictive, it's also liberating because you don't have the analysis paralysis that comes from being able to select almost anything, and it can often pull players out of their comfort zone and get them to consider alternate tactics. I've been running the format for a few years as part of the Irish competitive circuit and it's been well-recieved by new players. There's also a burgeoning AS 350 scene in Ireland, mostly driven by one particular games club that's run a couple of events this year and there's certainly been an odd mix of players who are very used to the format and bring more optimised lists, with stuff like the low-points unit that takes up a slot and gives an initiative sink (the J-27 is very popular for this in their meta), ultra-fast VTOLs dropping squad-sized infantry units on objectives early on, and other stuff that is absolutely a valid list under the rules but doesn't quite fit the fluff. I did terribly in the first event they ran, but came second in the second one, partially because of thinking a bit more about list building (I made a 200 point list that I could then add 50 point modules onto, as opposed to makeing a 350-point one without thnking about how to deploy forces from it on the table), partially by thinking a bit more strategically in terms of winning games (playing defensively is often the way to go), and partially because the lists I played against were mostly just mechs and had fewer of the slightly janky edge options.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Great comment - interesting on the “pre-selections” of mechs. It definitely helps to govern balance, but I am not sure how I feel about it!

[@lorcannagle]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming I was skeptical about it too at first, but I would suggest trying it out if you have the chance.

[@HouseDavieMerc]

Great incites on setting up tournaments. Thanks. We tried to get some tournaments running locally but it seems like everyone around here modifies Alpha Strike in their own way. The only things that they can agree on are the 2 main things they don't like about Alpha Strike that are connected. 1. Doubling the walking speed of mechs for your movement makes any normal playing area to small. It's unnecessary and complicates the game. Leaving the ground units keep their original movement works fine if the ranges aren't doubled. 2. Why do we have a range bracket based on one of the least tactically useful weapons in the game-the MG? Why not just use the old ranges? Roll MGs in with contact attacks, use 1-9 for short, 11-15 for medium, and 16+ for long? For anything with special circumstances that don't fit the mold make a special ability. Combining both of these makes AS WAY more intuitive and encourages the "Classic Only" crowd to join in. Just my 2 cents that nobody seems to listen to. WARNING: Trying these rule changes while using hexed 3D terrain may cause an epiphany for some players!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

We played Alpha (on the channel) in 1:1 scale as you suggested and it works well. I agree the 2:1 is weird - goes fast which is enjoyable - but VTOLs can do laps around the entire board in 2 turns. As for the ranges, also weird. Weapons like the LLas get dinged hard. But I think the 2:1 scales makes this more or less invisible - its more pronounced when playing 1:1 and the board is stretched. And your point about “everyone playing their own way” is so valid. We did a different jump point on this… it’s a challenge in BT for sure. Even classic has so many optional rules (and house rules)…

[@johnhennon3694]

Fun listening in, but I'm surprised that the Wolfnet Radio format was not mentioned more. I think that they established a lot of the going standards used in competitive AS. Things like faction and era restrictions, skill caps/limits, limited duplication of units, etc.

[@Andrewlik]

The flatbed truck (armor) variant at skill 7 is 1 point. Same as the regular flatbed truck at 7 but you get a pip of armor

[@DevianID]

I'm running a tournament for battletech in atlantic city at frontline ACO June 14-16, you all should come!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Maybe we will try to swing down!

[@geoclisymmk2135]

When asking what would attract you to a tournament I had the wild thought of BattleTech themed racing queens...... don't know why

[@aetherial87]

Good looking Flea, haha

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

The Batmobile of BattleMechs

[@lukedudley5030]

I run narrative campaigns but I find solaris is the best tournament format...you limit the year they can pick from and the weight class and let them fight it out in a league system with points awarded for achievements in fights...winner takes all...most players enjoy this format as its fair and skill at the game makes the difference...with more complications in the tournament the more players complain and are turned off playing again :-)

[@TheBoardGameKaptain]

First! Love these guys, Keep up the great work.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thank you!

[@HotelCharliHill]

i didn't catch that - what was wrong with the med-evac or flatbed truck???

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

It was an extreme example of how you can spam ridiculous units if there aren’t guardrails.

[@HotelCharliHill]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming yeah... i hate when guys meta the crap out of a fun game cuz they're so sweaty and salty and only care about winning. i remember playing wh40k as a kid with a 45 year old man who fielded nothing but space wolves with claws transported in rhinos because he knew they'd win every assault. so freaking gay.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

@HotelCharliHill lmao I too played against a crazy Space Wolves guy as a youngster. I used to spam dreadnoughts though, so he would always whine. Ah the good old days. I much more enjoy the collaborative story telling aspect - and would be totally down for randomly generated forces if I had every model in every scheme. One day

[@HotelCharliHill]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming lol at least a bunch of dreadnoughts would look cool. Yeah i am also more about the unfolding story. Speaking of a massive collection, I’m still waiting for that walk down memory lane as you show us all your minis :D

[@misterbeeps]

"This one is probably not that controversial" 10 minutes later Dave calls Fire Moth a "Dasher"😬 I do NOT envy Aaron for having to moderate this comment section!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Classic spheroid mistake.

[@christophersagen3349]

Will yall be doing a review on the new packs that just came out?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

the kickstarter stuff isnt out quite yet - but as soon as we have them, you can count on it!!

[@christophersagen3349]

@DeathfromAboveWargaming my bad for not specifying! I mean the star league pack that just dropped

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

@christophersagen3349 oh well glad you reminded me. We will. I just bought them. We get nothing early here, so I will have it out as soon as we can!

[@taylordurost246]

I'm running a 8 man overide tournment today what timing!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

This excites me

[@taylordurost246]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming turned into 10 spots!! It was super fun 😁

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Very cool!!

[@AdamWhitehead111]

I've never done a battletech tournament, but I have taken part in tournaments for other games. I'm not the most competetive player... and i don't really enjoy playing against overly competetive players. It is usually a much more enjoyable experience to hang around the bottom tables.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Yah this is where I am with it - BT is such a “random game” to some degree (headshot killing your Stone Rhino on turn 1) its hard to want to win if that makes sense. It is more fun to collectively laugh at those events than claw your eyes out.

[@theredbeardbard]

If your tournament isn't promoted as a Batchall, is it really a Battletech tournament?!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Haha fair point. Clearly not 😄

[@ZackHeise]

Reddit is surprisingly good. Sure there are a bunch of assholes on there but once you become one yourself you hardly notice.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I literally spit out my coffee laughing at this. Well done sir, well done!

[@EricVulgaris]

big narrative events seem more fun than tournaments but that's just me.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I tend to agree with you!