Let's Play! - Battletech: Alpha Strike (2022) by Catalyst Game Labs - PART 1

[@wolvermonkey]

I call the light mechs like the Wasp and Locust "one hit wonders". You hit them one time and wonder where they went.

[@Pandenhir]

Good one! XD

[@sea_triscuit7980]

Lmao amen. My brother has a stinger and I make it a point to destroy it immediately for fun and an extra VP

[@kylepiro8341]

Your Alpha Strike videos have reignited a childhood love of Battletech...and hurt my wallet as I must get evey mech now. Keep up the amazing content and more Alpha Strike reports please!

[@ObiwanNekody]

They have done an excellent job with the models, haven't they?

[@busterscruggs_sc]

This looks so much more laid back than classic Battletech

[@sea_triscuit7980]

It's a great way to learn the game too (new player here). I love how classic Battletech is played but can only handle one mech at a time comfortably so Alpha strike is awesome for when I want to bring a lance and not feel rushed or like I'm forgetting something.

[@slenaas]

Just played my 4th game of classic today, I’ve played with full lances since my first, and there’s so many nit-picky rules I have a headache after just 1 game. Alpha Strike looks so much more easy to play I can’t wait to learn it!

[@JERRYR708]

@@slenaas Classic BT makes math fun.

[@a15godzilla]

Only if you can keep track of it all

[@mwatkins0590]

@@slenaas start with simplified rules and 1 mech vs 1 mech: no physical attacks allowed. Play that a few times until you are comfortable with the general order of things, and then do a 1v1 of physical attacks only to force yourself to get used to them. A GATOR cheat-sheet printed out and put inside a binder page protector is immensely helpful in speeding things up, you can bring a dry erase marker and write on the plastic protector to help with your math. after a few games, most of it becomes second nature. if the simplified rules above are still too tedious, try a map with no water and pretend none of the woods exist. a game really isn't meant to be played with a bunch of mechs.

[@Tharanicus]

Start of combat is at 13:09, if not worried about the fluff

[@skyhawk6561]

Watching you two play together always cracks me up. love watching these. Playing just for the fun of it and being silly in the process, best way, and most fun way to play!!!

[@Winter413]

Audio is more understandable at 85% speed, camera is better at 75% speed to allow the observer to study the game and not get nauseated by the frequent movement. This made it more enjoyable for me, anyway-just my 2 cents. Thanks for the the AS content!

[@bobdobbs7828]

Personally I sped it up to 150% since he doesn't talk fast enough.

[@lexchaotica190]

I thank you for posting.I played battletech way back in the 80s and was interested in seeing what the newest version had become.Nostalgia for those old days i guess.

[@DragonsinGenesisPodcast]

This is a sort of quick play version of the game, but a full version is still available and it’s nearly identical to the original.

[@Warhamer116]

Battletech has 2 versions: The original one which is still hex-based and still supported, and the Alpha Strike version which is intended for new players, players coming from other miniwargames, and for simulating large scale battles (because OG BT rules doesn't gel well when you speak about multiple Stars engaging eachother)

[@usekungfu]

So pumped to see these hit shelves soon. Glad you keep making awesome bat reps!

[@RemTV]

glad to see you got your hands on one of these boxes!

[@Georghofmann]

KZbin needs more #Battletech content. Well done

[@yodennis2000]

I had bagpipes playing the benny hill theme every time you moved that locust. This was a fun playthrough!

[@kenstewart3607]

Preordered a box and a couple of the lance sets. Couldn’t wait, so I bought a digital edition of the commanders book and read through it already😅. Really excited to play this!

[@ToddRigertas]

The "Index Obscurus" literally made me laugh out loud!!!

[@OptimusJedi]

For Northwind! Very cool video. Love the paint jobs too. Can’t wait to get the box for myself.

[@toddcarlson5324]

Excellent Battletech/Alpha Strike batrep! Looking forward to more!

[@murph-4]

This was great. Chemistry between you guys was awesome and enjoyed!

[@shagakhan9442]

Excellent job on the video! The Nova is one of my favorite omni-mechs. Peace of Blake's nuclear fire be with you Clan Snord!

[@lorcannagle]

So Snord's Irregulars are still around in 3151, doing some sort of dodgy stuff in the former Jade Falcon occupation zone with some other small merc units. Really looking forward to getting the box set, when it reaches Ireland sometime after Christmas...

[@Level30Commoner]

I actually laughed really hard when I read Tamar Rising with all the callbacks to the old times. 😀

[@lorcannagle]

@@Level30Commoner Yeah, I hope we get some fiction with Joshua Snord and Abdoun Ricol soon. Especially as we've had like 4 novels in the hinterlands in the last few months!

[@GuerrillaMiniatureGames]

Leave it to Jay for the deep cuts!

[@lorcannagle]

@@GuerrillaMiniatureGames Fully waiting for him to roll out a unit from one of the Deep Periphery states just to really mess with you some day. I think it was TRO 3085 had rules for putting a team of Jarnfolk assassins on the table...

[@loser7829]

You two could be playing Candyland the tabletop wargame and I would still enjoy it more than most other lets plays out there

[@Daemonettee]

Beautiful minis guys and the batrep was great fun to watch! 😃❤️

[@threeohm]

Alpha Strike!!!!!!!! Got the box set and Commander's Edition for Christmas.

[@Burnthas]

Damn. I looking forward to theese hitting the shelves and more of your videos. Keep em coming :-)

[@montyhedstrom1356]

I love that he's playing Snord's Irregulars. Old school goodness.

[@GuerrillaMiniatureGames]

They’re getting a box!

[@Rhaumar]

@@GuerrillaMiniatureGames and here, I am about 60% completed with the 3025 Cranston list, but now I have to get another 3050+ list together for Rhonda.

[@worlds-in-conflict]

​@@Rhaumar wicked! I just circled back to the 2 campaign books and I'm planning on doing both!

[@verysilentmouse]

Yay more battletech, can't wait for the box to go retail.

[@sebastiang.5032]

Amazing. Can't wait for the box to be available in Germany.

[@Groundpenguin]

Been loving alpha strike such a fun game can't wait to get my boxed set

[@Ace-wo7ul]

Thanks to your Alpha Strike vids my girlfriend is always annoyed. You inspired me to make way too much 6mm terrain to play the damn game!

[@darrenmurphy480]

I watched your review and thought, "I wonder if that terrain would be enough ?" And this is a 4x4 game ... I absolutely love it TO AMAZON!!!

[@Mephiston]

November cannot get here fast enough.

[@Mephiston]

It turned into march here in Australia :(

[@jsizzlesaurusrex]

In MWO I use a Nova with 3 small lasers and 3 small pulse lasers on each hand. I call him “Mr. Tickles”

[@raytapio4313]

On the Catalyst site it actually says the cards are pre-laminated so you should be able to use dry erase on them directly. (instead of sleeving them)

[@justinnelson1839]

Do you have some close-up photos of your Highlander mechs? They look gorgeous on the table top! Would love a painting tutorial.

[@VelcroSnake93]

Love Alpha Strike, but only with the multiple damage roll rules. Instead of doing just the written chunk of damage in one shot you roll for each point of damage to see how much hits (3 damage means rolling 3x 2d6). It helps simulate multiple weapon systems being fired and not everything always hitting, making it feel more like Classic Battletech than Mechwarrior Dark Age.

[@GuerrillaMiniatureGames]

We’ve definitely played it that way as well!

[@jeffjr84]

If Cicadas looked like that in MW5 i would use them more. man that's a cool set.

[@Hundmathr]

I love how in classic BT the Blackjack isn't a good mech, in Alpha Strike it get's a glow-up.

[@Warhamer116]

Blackjack is the okayest of the okay mechs, which makes it kinda bad in regular since most mechs can do what BJ can do but better while having a specific niche that they suck at, but in Alpha Strike the profiles get streamlined so much that being a all-rounder starts being pretty useful again. Same case with Warhammer

[@Rapman21]

Bagpipe sneak attack!😂

[@SpannSr1970]

What In the Karl Franz? New Battletech?

[@johanneskaramossov5103]

nice match was fun to watch and yea alpha strole really seems a good entry point

[@zaccampa4055]

Yes!!! I always root for the Inner Spheres lol

[@TomCruiseRisky]

So every time there is damage to a structural bubble, even though there isnt a critical hit, you roll on the critical hit table?

[@GuerrillaMiniatureGames]

Yes but no matter how much structure damage a single attack does you only roll once.

[@kierdalemodels]

Yes. If a critical is rolled and you still have armour then you roll on the critical table, but if you only have structure left then you roll on the critical hit table every time you lose a structure point.

[@kyleclavette9445]

Where can I get more buildings like that for terrain??

[@GuerrillaMiniatureGames]

Check out the Steel rift set from Death Ray Designs!

[@CMDRFandragon]

Recreate the one Battletech book where an Atlas is punching a Warhawk. Lets see those 2 1v1 each other lol.

[@dagdamar2000]

Trying to find out how to find the alpha strike equivalent of the mech builder. Is there one ?

[@Level30Commoner]

What? A not batshit insane scenario from the 90's when playing with Jay? Does that mean we might actually see a proper game for once? 😀

[@mini_wargamer]

Question: Does that mean they made a new edition/rules of Alpha Strike?

[@worlds-in-conflict]

TASTE THE RAINBOW SON!

[@Tabletopreadygames]

What happened to splitting the damage and rolling for each point of damage?

[@optimusWII]

Does the name "Clan Snord" sound as stupid to English speakers as it does to me? Kind of reminds me of Snarf from Thundercats

[@worlds-in-conflict]

And now...I want a Thundercats miniature game....

[@edwindrood2816]

Fun fight

[@justinavery8664]

Ash, Does this box differ much from the previous Battletech game of armored combat "new release"? 🤔

[@verysilentmouse]

Yes the first box has the rules for battletech this one has the rules for alpha strike which is a condensed/stripped down version of battletech. The first box has the cards for the Alpha strike stats though. And the first one has 8 mechs and 2 mapsheets. This alpha strike box has thirteen mechs thirteen buildings, a number of trees and all the tokens you saw in this video. The mechs and terrain are compatible with both games. Both are great entry points. Clan invasion boxset is an addon for battletech. But has the stat cards for alpha strike. All the new lance and star boxes have the stat cards for alpha strike. And all are at a great price point.

[@lorcannagle]

it's a very different set - Alpha Strike is a different game to full BattleTech though they use many of the same base mechanics. Aside form the rulebook and reference card, the differences are: 1. the short story in the new set is set in 3151 and is by Bryan Young, as opposed to the one in GoAC being set in 2990 and being by William H. Keith. 2. Similarly, the primer booklet in Alpha Strike is set in 3151 and details the ilClan and the status of the various Clans and Inner Sphere nations for that era, as opposed to the GoAC being in 3025. 3. The GoAC box comes with game aids for full BattleTech - 2 mapsheets, a sheet of cardboard 'Mech playing pieces and tiles to modify the maps, as well as BattleTech record sheets for the various mechs in the box, and the Griffin from the Beginner Box. 4. There are 13 'mech minis in the Alpha Strike box. Two of these - the Wraith and the Pouncer are completely new to the plastic mini range, 4 more are just reuses of models already in the line, and 7 have at least one model in the line already but the models in this set have different weapon loadouts. One of the new weapon variants is the only crossover with the minis in GoAC - a Locust. The Locust in the GoAC box is a LCT-1V while this one is a LCT-3M. 5. Both box sets contain double-sided Alpha Strike unit cards and Pilot cards intended for use with BattleTech, one per 'mech. so the number and content of these cards is different between the boxes. 6. The Alpha Strike box contains game aids for Alpha Strike that are not reflected in the GoAC box - counters to mark unit movement, a blast template, 9 small and 6 medium fold-up buildings, and a number of tree counters. These are the cardboard terrain pieces used in the video. There's also a deck of Battlefield support cards allowing players to use abstracted rules for air strikes, artillery and mine fields. There is a similar deck for BattleTech, sold separately.

[@justinavery8664]

@@verysilentmouse thank you for the very thorough explanation. You guys went above an beyond. Much appreciated.

[@MrBrad9]

what size of neoprene mat is that?

[@GuerrillaMiniatureGames]

4x4

[@MrBrad9]

@@GuerrillaMiniatureGames Awesome thank you!

[@josevelajr]

What mat are you using?

[@Yazz_itsRemi]

As someone with dyslexia/dyscalcula I can definitely say btas as much easier and easier for my scatterbrain, because I mostly just want to blow up 'mechs and paint them :)

[@legenderekgo]

Hey Ash! what camera + mount/handle do you use when filming your batreps?

[@AlxParrish]

Does this game have a release date yet?

[@MidWesti]

I'm 38 and play like a 12 yr old.. haha

[@Kotch111]

Watching you guys cheat by stealing inches with your movement reminded me of MWDA.

[@attiladukai2121]

I really love Battletech/Mechwarrior, but Adeptus Titanicus is a waaaay better system for me. No reason to have both, this makes me sad. Especially cause we love to kill each other with big walkers with my wife.

[@jasonwilliams8393]

Forgive me for asking this question in this way but who is this video for? I’ve watched it twice as a complete newcomer and I still don’t really understand what’s going on. And if you’ve already played the game and know the rules why would you watch someone else play this game? I apologize if this comes across as obscenely rude but it’s really an honest question.

[@sergprot1053]

thx God no D12 anymore.

[@lazyvipurr4698]

Dude, you talk WAY to damn fast and slur your words....

[@jparks6544]

Can't make sense of any of this. This is not a beginner game.