Part 2: FedCom vs Clan Jade Falcon | CAMPAIGN! Battletech Alpha Strike Battle Report | Clan Invasion

[@faithmcclosky4528]

References to the 90s, Thom being Thom, and Nicolai Malthus making an appearance? This video is like a DFA greatest hits. Outstanding battle report, gentlemen.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thank you thank you. Always a good time when Malthus appears.

[@lesjames2478]

Thom's comments on patience being key to playing clans and having to be very careful is pretty in line with what I have seen in my own experiences. They lay down just ridiculous amounts of damage but they really can't take a lot of damage in return. It makes for a very unforgiving play experience as one mistake in positioning or one turn of bad rolls can really be hard to come back from.

[@Norade]

What a tense game. Just a couple hits either way could have swung the whole thing. Now the Lyrans have to fall back, hold a service for their dead, and try to put their mechs back together.

[@sebastiang.5032]

I see Thom & Aaron and I know that this is going to be great.

[@eoincorrigan3030]

Superb game - very tense. Love the tactical analysis.

[@oddball5576]

You all don’t get enough credit for what you do. Love the battles and seeing it all in action. Thanks as always!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I appreciate that! Thanks for watching and always love to hear the BattleTech fans are enjoying the content!

[@androssthered1157]

Thom with the clans... just awesome singling out of the enemy mechs and those dice rolls.... just incredible.

[@gavincross2902]

Great game. Can't believe Thom won. Vastly outwieghed and out gunned and dealing with VTOLs. Bad luck with the dice Aaron

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Its a curse for me these days!!

[@usekungfu]

Awesome Batrep guys.

[@marvinjohnson2488]

This was a nail biter. Well done.

[@berserkerdad2490]

Great battle report!! Nail biter that could have swung either way.. Can't wait to see the next one! Keep up the great work, gents!

[@cmbunit01]

Nice one, guys. Intense fight as always.

[@legomech1946]

Haha "As dead as Amaris..." 😂 It was great to see the Clans be so productive in an Alpha Strike game!

[@briane8627]

I'm really proud of how Thom handled himself in this game. His breakdown at the end on how clan forces have to be played in Alpha Strike is spot on. A great read of the situation and well executed. The clanners here have to be disciplined. It helps to have the blessing of the dice gods too! Aaron played a good game but lady luck isn't a fan of the camo pants. He kept his cool and kept making good decisions waiting for good dice luck to turn. It just never happened. I was really happy to see battle armor effectively used. I think they are often underutilized. This was a perfect map and mission for them. I want to see more of them. Good job Thom! VTOLs are still crazy OP in comparison though. I'd consider removing the vtol's ability to contest sectors or just get rid of the +1 vtol defense. While I'm getting crazy, I'd tweak the XL engine too. I hope to see that Sabutai in the next mission. Aerospace fighters are even more OP than VTOLs in Alpha Strike. I love batreps at this scale and in a campaign narrative to boot! Absolutely divine. There's enough units, and different types of units, that it makes for a very dynamic game board. Really lovely. Now, just do this in Battletech Destiny. :D

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Haha Destiny will make a comeback no doubt!

[@thomberg3457]

Thanks for the analysis!

[@joshadams3422]

Best one yet gents. Great game.

[@zot8218]

Love it guys, I have to say after seeing Thom's love for the jade falcons I had to paint up my salvage boxes from the kickstarter as the cartoons Jade falcons as I got a couple thors and a vulture and hunchback IIc among others

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Fantastic!!

[@bigeye6606]

great stuff! You guys really deserve more views. BT needs more love.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

BT does need more love!! That will bring the views! Thanks for watching 🙂

[@TheRealSonBae]

Love that line from the opening…”It’s as dead as Amaris”. Lmao

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

😆

[@TheDragonWhimsy]

I love that you guys are doing Alpha Strike again! I felt there was a bit too much Destiny in a row. I know it's popular among this channel's community but for myself I have no interest in knowing where every PPC blast hits. That's just not at all entertaining for me. Alpha Strike is a fantastic game and your videos on it are a great advertisement for it and I very much hope you guys continue to support it regularly. It was wonderful that the Jade Falcons made a comeback this game after last game's talk of the Clans being at a disadvantage. While that may still be true, this game really showed what can happen when the Clan's are played to their strengths. Sure Thom rolled really well, but the Clans dice advantage means they have more chances to roll well. On average they will inherently roll better than the Inner Sphere at range. And Thom, don't worry about what attitude is "Clan" like. Those role-played traits were created to balance the Clans against the Inner Sphere back when the game was balanced through tonnage. They were never designed around a more accurate point system and really have no place in a modern BattleTech or Alpha Strike game because the point values aren't taking those role-play elements into account nor is there anything else in the rules to balance them. You used your Elementals perfectly. Don't change a thing!

[@barryxanchez2965]

These are big fun to watch. Helps me learn the game too

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for watching and the comment! Game on!

[@madcat3525]

Great Battlerep! Great terrain and setup. I like watching DFA Wargaming because of the lighting, editing ,and different fliming angles. Thom played his Clan forces skillfully. I think Aaron needs to be more aggressive from the beginning. It doesnt help when the luck of the dice isnt there either. Maybe,Thom will take the plunge and do a decal tutorial in the future. Looking forward to more videos. Thanks for all the hard work that goes into making these videos.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for watching as always!

[@contractorFSU]

When the elementals get hit while attached to their mechs I can just imagine that scene in Fury when the tank commander gets hit directly with the shell - BRUTAL.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Haha *splat*

[@redbaronsnoopy2346]

Luv the videos, hope Dan's OK. The color commentary is always the fun part of tabletop gaming, it's an RPG because we the Fans make it relatable and fleshed out. Not just nameless pixels, fun local cannon to flavor boost gaming. Luv it, keep up that great work, look forward to more.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for watching! Dan is all good, we were just messing 🙂

[@redbaronsnoopy2346]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Understand, buddies giving each other a hard time, inside jokes. Dan's reactions to various situations are priceless, look forward to these videos, very entertaining and nostalgic.

[@Kaiju-Driver]

Another awesome anointed armored annihilation!

[@theyellowjesters]

The last 3 games I've played I rolled like Aaron. I feel your pain!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

We can share in our misery 😁

[@theyellowjesters]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming it does love company

[@kereminde]

Dusting off a running gag from another show entirely: "There's no falling on Death From Above!" :) It's interesting watching the campaign influence how conservative/reckless you might be with your units. It does certainly change a lot of considerations, because "I might need that later".

[@shaneflickinger]

Nice job Thom on running a clinic on how to play the Clans in Alpha Strike. Those hot dice rolls too lighting up the Quickdraw, Warrior, and the Archer. The irony is the playstyle is totally opposite to the lore. Thanks for the video you guys. Very entertaining!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for watching good sir!

[@thomberg3457]

Getting past the descriptive lore of clanners is hard but it makes playing them a lot better.

[@alexdeeprose2303]

Great game. Thom really leveraging that clan range advantage, which i think you HAVE to do in AS to have any real chance.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Indeed. He is a masterful clanner.

[@alexdeeprose2303]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Hey now, theres no need to be rude about him :D

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Sorry, I meant “filthy clanner”

[@audioweasel6997]

I would totally buy an “Emotional Support Elementals” shirt

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Haha need to get some rights to the art 😜

[@EchoMirage72]

This series has been much better seeing Aaron get taken to the woodshed :P

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Haha!!

[@anthonyspecf]

Great battle! I felt like that Timberwolf shot @ 1:54:55 was the shot heard around Alyina.

[@duskhaunters3025]

We should all band together and buy Aaron one of those Las Vegas dice checkers...those rolls by Thom demand an inquest 🤣

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Sadly Thom is using dice from my collection. He just has the magic!

[@thomberg3457]

I broke into the studio and weighted all the dice the night before

[@Magermh]

Well looks like the Turkey needs more time in the oven. That was a brutal game.

[@TinBane]

I think it’s less that AS is biased and more that AS emphasises what works well for clans, even more than classic. Keeping the fight at long range, breaking LOS, plus rolling hot (of course) really demonstrates the clans strengths. It would be hard for an IS force to get such good return even on Thoms outrageous luck. The speed and huge ranged firepower really tells in a prolonged, long distance fight. Personally, I’ve found that quickdraws are a bad design, that is also cursed. The three times I’ve used them, they’ve died from falling over (once on concrete when turning, stupid classic).

[@EricVulgaris]

If I had to describe this match in one phrase from the game, it's gotta be Aaron going "ok so I can't see anything..."

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Accurate

[@l.everetttalbottjr.275]

Col. Malthus is back...great.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

He never dies.

[@lesjames2478]

I know you are sticking to the same set of rules for the campaign but for future reference, the newest errata changes the way occupied/intervening terrain works for woods. Just sticks out because it would of changed some of Thom's target numbers.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Oh what changed now!?

[@lesjames2478]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming for the longest time there was no difference between intervening and occupied terrain for woods. They recently changed it to the occupying unit basically has a 2" bubble around them that counts as "occupied terrain" instead of intervening. It doesn't stack bonuses so there isn't like a +1 for occupied and an additional +1 for intervening, it's still just +1 for woods but it does effect LOS as the 2" bubble doesn't count towards the 6" of intervening terrain needed to block LOS. It also doesn't count against the occupying units attack. So if a unit were say only an inch into the woods, it wouldn't get a +1 to its attack against units on the same side but out of the woods (with no intervening woods between). But attacks against by enemy units would have the +1 because it is "occupying woods".

[@lesjames2478]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/naqof4l3h56mmNE this does a very good break down of the changes in those rules and the explanation with examples starts at right around the 3:00 mark

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I will ping you on discord on this…

[@MausGMR]

I do wonder about Clan vs IS balance when watching a match like this. Thom's rolling was insane compared to Aarons, and he only just managed to get a victory out of this, and that was with winning initiative every turn! It seems now that as I get to the end summary, you guys are talking about this though. It's a shame, because I'd like it to be more fair across the board in AS.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

The imbalance is in the cost associated with TMM. A lot of clan mechs are faster, and it multiplies the cost. See things like the Wraith on the IS side for similarly absurd cost. 🙂

[@MausGMR]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming ye absolutely. I am interested in seeing how the changes to xl engines you were proposing mixes things up in alpha strike. It seems well worth a try to me. Great bat rep, some massive shocks in this game. Always sucks to have such a string of poor rolls as well Aaron!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Such are the vagaries of fate! I have temporarily given up on my XL quest… very hard to find a “good balance” without having a ripple effect.

[@kereminde]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Change one little thing in the rules, and it causes a dozen minor issues. Or a few major ones... still finding this out the hard way by having toyed with things for campaign play. (Infantry, man. Infantry.)

[@Nitscherk]

Hey Guys! I'm curious about the Jade Falcon color scheme. Which greens/yellows did you use? Working on my own Falcon Guard at the moment and your scheme looks like what i intended to do.

[@thomberg3457]

It’s zenithal base airbrushed using army painter jungle green and then a top-down mist of yellow to make it glow, used the army painter dark wash

[@jeffbrown1958]

Having watched the first episode of the campaign I was nervous for Jade falcon but it was a really good game and so much more intense than the first one. also I'm thinking about getting back into BattleTech do you know if there is a BattleTech community in Minnesota? I don't want to spend money and not have anyone to play with.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I’m not sure about MN, but you could ask around on the official forums or discord!

[@MrHorncity]

Love the stuff lads, gotta ask, where did you get the roads i need something like that to complete my table soooo bad

[@MidnightDream034]

Love this campaign and the session was great. I have to ask though where did you get those street tiles?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

The roads are from gcmini.com! I got the acrylic ones and painted them.

[@derekburge5294]

> Thom shows up Jade Falcons: it is our booooy!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

100%

[@thomberg3457]

I even cut my hair just to channel malthus

[@derekburge5294]

@@thomberg3457 Glowy face tattoos WHEN? New patreon goal maybe?

[@barryxanchez2965]

Good fight. 🙂

[@jasonrucker4722]

Phenomenal game Thom! You rolled like those dice were loaded, but most importantly, you maneuvered the Clan mechs superbly and I enjoyed how you used the elementals as reactive armor. Aaron, tough rolls. Can elementals fire while mounted on an Omni mech?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Thanks for watching! Id have to go to the rules but I don’t think they can?

[@jasonrucker4722]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming I could argue that they should be allowed to fire from Omni mechs (at a +1 disadvantage) - could be a great topic / poll for a future DFA rules modification? Our group has been playing elementals as reactive armor for sometime, but given that engagements are usually extreme to medium range, I can see why it has never come up. Separately, in AS (different opinion in Destiny since Clan weapon advantages are factored in to the rolling) I think Clans need to be balanced. Thom maneuvered and rolled very well and only barely won. I am thinking this could be tackled easily by improving pilot skill instead of mech points. I would suggest a -1 for Clan roll, just b/c they are Clanners.

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I like the elemental idea - is there precedent for that in the lore? As for balance, yeeeesh I agree - though a free skill bump is substantial in AS especially when you have a 60 point Kodiak on the table 🙂 Its the damn XL engines. They cripple everything, including IS mechs that have them. Play a star of Kingfishers and you’ll be in good shape 😆

[@jasonrucker4722]

@@DeathfromAboveWargaming I do not think there is a precedent in the lore, but from the pictures of them mounted, they are typically using one hand to hold onto the Omni mech grip and the main armament is free to fire. If they can fire while jumping (of which there are many pictures), I don't see why that would be any more difficult to fire their weapons while mounted. Any suggestion to further balance Clans for AS?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Its tough - there is so much of the PV equation rooted in TMM, the XL engines… lots of issues.

[@maxanderson2180]

Dang fed com got savaged this game

[@HotelCharliHill]

In your dice system, if you get a garbage roll with the big die, doesn't that mean every single one of your shots now has a piss-poor chance of hitting? whereas if you rolled two dice for every weapon's attack some might have both dice rolling higher resulting in more hits?

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

I did a whole analysis of this somewhere in Discord - but short story is its all good. Email me if you want the details.

[@sebastiang.5032]

"He's not in force withdrawal, he's not in fo..." #ominousdicerollingsounds

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

😭

[@barryxanchez2965]

Ouch on the crit.

[@pedrojustice]

I gotta ask, how you guys have suck gorgeous 3d terrain they look like matts with elevation under it, but way too good share the secret!

[@DeathfromAboveWargaming]

Check out our hobby playlist for a tutorial vid!