11 replies to this topic

[Jonathan8883]

I've been enjoying running a game of D&D 5e at my friendly local gaming store. So far, nobody has made mention of BattleTech, and they don't sell any BT materials.

What's it like to actually play? How long does it take (for example) to resolve a lance versus lance fight?

I know I've seen some stuff about lots of rolls on charts for hit, damage, etc., that makes it seem like a single battle would take multiple hours...but that may not be an accurate impression.

[Karl Streiger]

lance vs lance can last 1hour per turn.
you can increase the speed by using a timer or accept that ranges will not be counted and mechs move on instinct rather a more complex pattern.
the game lance vs lNce ith my children did last 30min... i virtually played against myself - so its not the game mechanics alone that. ogs the game down.

of course there is Alpha Strike its faster paced - lance vs lance last an hour but not the

[Bistrorider]

Hi. I played Battletech for years. That's how I,ve started my adventure with "big robots". First of all you need to know and (best of all) remember most important charts. I was teenager when I,ve started BT and I remeber some charts to this day Yeah, I was like croupier, because I was the only one who learned that goddamn charts That will speed up a game. The worst thing is when you have to browse through pages, charts, diagrams because you forgot that one rule which you need at that moment. That may take some time and open a dispute. So one guy should be someone like a game master in D&D. Of course all players should know this and that, but they will learn by the way. Learing the rules and understanding them may take some time, but it's worth it. When you remember the charts, one turn will go quicker because you will count quicker things like range, heat, moves, gunnery, piloting. And MWO is somewhat similar to BT. MWO takes rules from BT which is great.

So read the rulebook, learn the charts, and you can play 4vs4 in one or two evenings. But that's also depends from players tactics, map size, mechs used. I've started BT from playing some scenarios with myself. That helped me to understand how to play. BT is very demanding at the beginnig, you feel lost in those rules, charts, and all that stuff. But after some time it's very awarding. Anyone who played BT have more chances in MWO than someone who is completely new to it. The BT system is very coherent, but challenging at first.

Edited by Bistrorider, 26 June 2019 - 01:26 PM.

[Jonathan8883]

One or two evenings to resolve a 4v4 lance combat? How did they get major battles resolved at the Cons then?

I don't think I want to play such a slow-paced game.

[Karl Streiger]

nah its not slow if you enforce fast playing - it's like chess it would also take weeks if not for the clock.
also the more players you have (we has 12 players controlling 12 mechs) this last an eternity. but its cool its less the game then more the social event.
lance vs lance can be over in 30-60min when you and your buddy don't overthink every round for several minutes
its a very good time to start with bt. the new minis look stunning you have a ton of electronic game aids

[Bistrorider]

Jonathan8883, on 26 June 2019 - 04:17 PM, said:

One or two evenings to resolve a 4v4 lance combat? How did they get major battles resolved at the Cons then?

I don't think I want to play such a slow-paced game.

But like in chess there is no need to rush in sucha game. When I played we were leaving board for another day. As i said everything depends from who you play with and how good is a game master (meaning: how fast he can count charts). Sometimes it could last long only because players are wildly maneuvering on the map for the best position to shoot. And every shot counts. If you are a sitting duck to often you may lose too much armor needed for important fire exchange. For me BT is a deep tactical game when one mistake could and with disaster to your unit. If you like MWO you should try it. BT may help you play better in MWO. And in BT you can creat your own mechs too

[Horseman]

There are several ways to improve bookkeeping - you may use some kind of software app to resolve the nitty-gritty of the actual combat (megamek, for ex, but I'm fairly sure there is some combat calculator / dice roller app out there).
Or you could use the Alpha Strike rules which are oriented for faster play.

Edited by Horseman, 27 June 2019 - 04:36 AM.

[Steel Raven]

Depend son how you play it. The Game of Armored Combat gets detailed so battles can take a while but it's fun shooting off a enemy mechs arm and using it as a club to smash in a enemies cockpit.

Alpha Strike is allot more simple and allows for faster game play (especially for large number of merchs)

Then their is A Time of War RPG. It's meant to be compatible with aGoAC for Mech combat though I don't see why you couldn't. use AS if you don't want to get bog down.

Pro Tip: If you want to play A Game of Armor Combat/Total Warfare for all the visceral details like ammo explosion and mech hatchets to the cockpit, get a Battle Box/Box of Death:

Battletech can involve allot of die rolls for multiple tables but rolling them all at once saves allot of time.

Edited by Steel Raven, 27 June 2019 - 03:57 PM.

[Koniving]

Megamek HQ can handle all your book keeping as well as the nitty-gritty, leaving your group time for the actual tabletop battles.

For example a GM could bring the players' units back into the base and take care of the repair/rearm, supplies, etc. based on input from the individual players. Or in larger games / ones where the players aren't necessarily on the same team, have each player record the state of their machines and when they get the time in between sessions they can load up Megamek HQ, report the conditions of the mission's conclusion in regards to their own units, handle the repair, resupply and rearm with a restriction as to how much time is allowed to pass by the GM. For example a mission finished, now that it's over the team has 5 weeks of recovery time before the next big event. They'll spend that time getting parts, fixing what they can and coping with what they can't which will save a lot of tabletop time for playing together.

Handling much larger battles may actually be better through Megamek itself with the help of bots to facilitate significantly faster play (For better results, assign many bots relatively small numbers of units, like 1 to 8. Yes each bot can handle more but the more it has to think the longer it may stall, and throwing 20+ units on a bot is asking for the bot to crash.)

Myself, I sadly don't get to do local games. But having read through many scenarios, I will tell you tabletop isn't strictly about mechs or combat between mechs and vehicles. "Mechwarrior" / Classic Battletech RPG and the Mercenary's Handbook are all source books specifically looking into interpersonal role play.

But...like with D&D, there's always gonna be somebody that's gonna play as a Gundam.


Just in case, here's how I handled it.

[Gagis]

Just dropping this here: http://faemiyah.fi/u...damageresolver/

[Tetatae Squawkins]

It is a slow game. But 1 hour per 4v4 turn means your players suck and need to focus. Or you are using too many extra rules that bog things down.

A 4v4 should be playable to conclusion within a few hours at most.

Edited by Tetatae Squawkins, 29 June 2019 - 05:26 AM.

[jss78]

I've long felt that tabletop should officially and completely support some kind of a record sheet/damage resolution app. As in, when you buy the boxed set, the download link and instructions come with the box.

I love the damage resolution when I play BattleTech on MegaMek (it's a full java client for tabletop BT). It's the heart and soul of the game. But it's a huge time consumer to do by hand (though I admit it's been 20 years since I've played on a physical table).

With an app which is basically a record sheet, and you can just tell "hit this 'mech with an SRM 6", you remove the boring and time consuming stuff, but you can still keep the cool stuff about tabletop, the physical board and miniatures.

I do realize Catalyst is a small company with limited means, and it's always easy to ask for things.