How does it play?

Basic game play is very similar to classic BattleTech. The game function is as
follows. Note this is a rundown of the most basic game play. More detailed rules
that cover Battlefield Intelligence, artillery plotting, aerospace integration, and
more are detailed in the rule book.

1) Roll for initiative. For the base game an unmodified roll of 2d6 added together.
Winner chooses who will move first. Many of the more advanced rules modify this
roll due to several factors like Battlefield Intelligence scores and special
abilities like �Command �Mech.� The winner of this roll decides who moves first.

2) The player that moves first moves a unit. Then their opponent moves a unit, back
and forth until all units have moved. Units have a �Move� stat listed in inches and
can be modified by a sub-designation like �j� for Jump which allows the unit to
move over obstacles by flying into the air. Terrain factors heavily into movement
and can affect the number of inches of movement it takes to overcome things like
woods, rough terrain and elevation changes. All movement is listed in inches.
Facing changes do not affect movement, unlike the classic game.

3) Once all the units have moved the player that won the initiative can shoot. All
combat is simultaneous so initiative for firing is not extremely useful. If a unit
is removed from play during this combat turn, but has not yet fired it remains in
play until it returns fire and is then removed.

Each machine has a Skill rating which represents the expertise of the pilot for
both piloting and gunnery. This score represents the base number one has to meet or
exceed on a total of two six sided dice to succeed at any given task, like
shooting. Of course there are several modifiers for target agility, range, movement
and cover that can change the target number. The math for to-hit modifiers works
almost exactly like they do in the classic game with the exception of the target
movement modifier. I will go into that in a bit.

When attacking, players must determine if the model has line of sight to the target
and has the target within its viable firing arc. Line of sight is determined
visually from model to model and the percentage of that model that is visible
through terrain.

Units will have damage values for each range band (Short, Medium and Long).
Sometimes these can be 0 for vehicles that may not have weapons that extend to that
range or the value can drop as the vehicle takes damage. If a successful roll to
hit is made, the appropriate damage value is applied to the targets armor and then
structure once the armor is breached. Every attack that reaches the internal
structure has a chance for a �critical hit� which is rolled off a table that
determines if any of the machines vital equipment is damaged or destroyed. Things
like head shots and ammunition explosions can kill a �Mech outright. The vehicle
record card has spots to track the various critical effects.

Firing weapons can sometimes generate heat buildup. This is represented by the OV
or Overheat Value. This value can be added to any weapon attack as long as it can
do at least one point of damage at that range band. The player must declare before
rolling that it is using the units OV and marks off a point of overheat. Each point
of overheat slows the vehicle and disrupts firing. A vehicle can have a total of 3
overheat points before it shuts down. The only way to bleed off heat is to refrain
from firing for an entire turn. At the end of that turn the vehicle can bleed off
one point of heat if it has not fired. If the machine generates several points of
overheat it will take several turns to bleed off the heat and cumulative negative
effects apply for each point of overheat.
4) Once all damage is resolved and destroyed units are taken off the board, both
sides re-roll initiative and start the new turn.

For those of you who have played Classic BattleTech, these concepts are very
familiar and in many cases identical. In many ways these games are extremely
similar. Alpha Strike is based on the BattleForce 2 system which was designed to
bring a strategic level of play to BattleTech by abstracting most of the minutia of
BattleTech allowing you to play several detachments of vehicles and infantry up to
the Battalion level and beyond. The main difference comes in the form of
granularity vs. abstraction.

All games are simulations and therefore abstractions, but some games have a higher
level of detail and use several layers of abstraction to define actions. Classic
BattleTech is very detailed. Most vehicles have several weapon systems ranging in
capabilities. Vehicles also have several hit locations with their own pools of
armor and structure. This results in several rolls per unit and sometimes weapon
with varying levels of damage spread out over the units hit locations that have to
be rolled out individually. Imagine doing that for 4-12 units a side in Heavy or
Assault �mechs that could take multiple hits to whittle down and has more guns than
a your average Army Reserve base. I have played in Classic BattleTech games that
have literally taken several days to completely work out. This level of detail is
great for small games, especially if you are using it concurrently with the�A Time
of War RPG�since each detail of the combat is worked out down to the individual
armor points adding to the clarity of the narrative. For large engagements, it can
be problematic. What Alpha Strike does is to consolidate those abstractions and cut
down the levels of granularity to maintain the same �feel� but cut down on the
steps needed to resolve combat. Let�s look at the top level differences between
Classic and Alpha Strike BattleTech.