For the purposes of force-building (see Alpha Strike Force-Building, pp. 146-157), most ground and aerospace units may be classified by mission role. This classification can be extremely subjective, as many units in the BattleTech setting can easily qualify for multiple mission roles. Nevertheless, the following guidelines are designed to aid players in assigning their Alpha Strike units to the best formations for their capabilities.
Forces from the Fifteenth Marik Militia clash with Anton’s Rebels in a guerrilla raid.
INTRODUCTION
ALPHA STRIKE TACTICAL ANNEX
ABSTRACT SPACE COMBAT
ALPHA STRIKE FORCE BUILDING
ALPHA STRIKE SCENARIOS
EXPANDED REPAIR AND SALVAGE RULES BATTLETECH CONVERSIONS
ALPHA STRIKE POINT VALUE CALCULATIONS Scout
Scout units are the speedsters of any force. Designed to serve in the forefront of any action, where they act as reconnaissance elements, Scouts favor mobility over all other considerations. Most Scouts, therefore, tend to be small, lightly armored, and barely armed. Because of this, these units should avoid combat unless in swarms.
More sophisticated armies may prefer to equip these units with advanced electronics, to boost their sensors and foil enemy ECM. Nearly any ground unit can serve as a potential Scout, but to be truly effective in a major battle, most of these units are light ’Mechs, ProtoMechs, hovercraft, or VTOLs.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Scout if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Fast (Move value 9 to 12 inches); Jumping, WiGE, or VTOL movement modes are helpful, but not a requirement.
Armor: Light (0 to 4 Armor points)
Preferred Range: Short (Scouts would prefer not to engage in combat at all). Units that can deliver more than 1 point of damage at Long range often make poor Scouts, as it indicates that more weight than necessary has gone to weaponry that might encourage a pilot to engage in more combat than his role requires.
Special: Scouts technically require no special abilities, but typically have the recon ability (RCN) and become much more effective when equipped with electronic warfare Juggernaut
Juggernaut units are the heavy hitters in any attack force: big, well armored, and carrying devastat-ing firepower—particularly at close range. Because they tend to be slow as well, Juggernauts often serve as the anchors of assault lances, or as “body-guards” for command lances. Jug-gernauts are meant to take and hold areas, and dominate their immediate vicinity, so BattleMechs tend to make the best Juggernauts, though heavy tanks can also do the job.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Juggernaut if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Slow (Move value 2 to 6 inches)
Armor: Heavy (7+ Armor points) Preferred Range: Short (Jugger-nauts are capable of unleashing dev-astating firepower to keep the enemy from getting away). In addition, a Jug-gernaut should be able to deliver enough damage to shatter its own armor in one or two volleys.
Special: Juggernauts require no special abilities, but may find physical attack enhancements like MEL and TSM useful, along with enhanced
defensive features like critical resistance (CR), reactive or reflective armor types (RCA and RFA, respectively), and anti-missile systems (such as AMS, LAMS, or RAMS).
Missile Boat
While it is technically true that any unit carrying more missiles than other weapons could meet the basic definition of a “missile boat”, true Missile Boats are those that act as heavy, long-range fire support. Because of this, these units are often as slow and big as a Juggernaut, devoting a great deal of their total mass to launchers and ammo. Since they are not meant for close-quarters fighting, Missile Boats tend to work on their own, or with defensive support close at hand. Like Juggernauts, the best Missile Boats tend to be BattleMechs or heavy tanks.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Missile Boat if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Any Armor: Any
Preferred Range: Long (Missile Boats will often attack from behind cover if possible). To be an effective Missile Boat, the unit must be able to deliver at least 1 point of damage to its Long range bracket via an Indirect Fire (IF) attack or an Artillery (ART#) attack.
Special: A Missile Boat must have LRMs and Indirect Fire (or
A Savage Coyote and Mad Cat (Timber Wolf) patrol a Clan Coyote enclave.
Striker
Strikers are similar to Skirmishers, but favor less armor in exchange for greater mobility. Strikers rely on speed to survive by avoiding attention (moving out of sight or just making themselves too hard to hit).
Because of this, Strikers tend to be lighter than Skirmishers, but better armed for battle than Scouts. BattleMechs, ProtoMechs, and fast
vehicles often serve as Striker units.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Juggernaut if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Fast (Move value 9 to 12 inches) Armor: Light to Medium (0 to 5 Armor points)
Preferred Range: Short (Strikers preferably attack from behind the target or from cover).
Special: Strikers have no special ability requirements.
AEROSPACE UNIT ROLES
All fighters—including aerospace and conventional fighters—may be broken down into five broad
classifica-tions: Attack Fighter, Dogfighter, Fast Dogfighter, Fire Support, and Interceptor. A special sixth classification—Transport—is also available for aerospace units of any type that feature transport capacity of any significance.
Unarmed or otherwise non-military aircraft—including airship and fixed-wing support vehicles, and unarmed aerospace and conventional fighter units—are classified simply as air-support units. All other aerospace units—including Small Craft, DropShips, JumpShips, space stations, satellite support vehicles, and WarShips—are typically classified by their unit type under Alpha Strike, but (as indicated above) many of these units may be treated as Transport units as well.
Attack Fighter
Attack Fighters are usually medium or heavy fighters that mount heavy firepower at the expense of performance and/or armor. These units often favor heavier weapons to achieve this punch, which tends to leave them somewhat slower and lacking in long-range power compared to other fighters. These features make them particularly effective in air-to-ground attack missions.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered an Attack Fighter if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Slow (Thrust value up to 5)
Preferred Range: Short (Attack Fighters should deliver as much damage as possible and be willing to take damage in return).
Specials: Attack Fighters have no special ability requirements.
Skirmisher
Skirmishers combine mobility and resil-iency in a way that places them somewhere between the Scout and the Brawler.
Using better than average speed to harass the enemy, Skirmishers carefully balance their armor and weaponry in the hopes of giving and good as they might get, while darting to and from cover. BattleMechs often make the best Skirmishers, but Proto-Mechs, medium-weight tanks, hovercraft, and even VTOLs can all perform these duties as well.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Skirmisher if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Fast (Move value 9 to 12 inches), or Medium (8 inches) with jumping ability
Armor: Medium-Heavy (4 to 8 Armor points) Preferred Range: Medium (Skirmishers mix effective attacks and defense).
Special: Skirmishers have no special ability requirements.
Sniper
The Sniper is the direct-fire alternative to the Missile Boat—a heavy, long-range platform built to do its damage from as far off as possible. Many of these units are slow and large,
like Juggernauts and Missile Boats, and thus leave much of their mass to specialized weaponry. Because of this, they also tend to be less protected against close-range opponents, and so—much like Missile Boats—they often rely on stealth, distance, or nearby support to keep them from harm. Ideally, a Sniper unit would be a BattleMech or heavy tank, but in truth, virtually any non-infantry ground unit can qualify for this role.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Sniper if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Any Armor: Any
Preferred Range: Long (Sniper often stand still to make attacks more effective). To be an effective Sniper, the unit must be able to deliver at least 1 point of damage to its Long range bracket without using LRMs.
Special: A Sniper unit may have LRMs and Indirect Fire special abilities, but should not rely on those to deliver its Long-range damage. Snipers can benefit most from any special abilities that improve their accuracy at long range, such as C3, but may also find defensive features such as anti-missile systems, ECM, and stealth gear, quite useful.
INTRODUCTION
ALPHA STRIKE TACTICAL ANNEX
ABSTRACT SPACE COMBAT
ALPHA STRIKE FORCE BUILDING
ALPHA STRIKE SCENARIOS
EXPANDED REPAIR AND SALVAGE RULES BATTLETECH CONVERSIONS
ALPHA STRIKE POINT VALUE CALCULATIONS Fire Support
Fire Support craft are usually medium or heavy fighters equipped with long-range weapons. These units are intended to keep up with dogfighters en route to the battle, and contribute meaningful amounts of firepower at stand-off distances. Because many fire support units are also heavy fighters with bomb-capable hardpoints, these units are also often conscripted for heavy ground support missions as well.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Fire Support craft if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Medium (Move value 5 to 7)
Preferred Range: Long (Fire Support craft should be able to lend support wherever needed).
Specials: Fire Support craft have no special ability requirements, but will find BOMB# specials handy any time they are deployed for air-to-ground action.
Interceptor
Interceptors are light, fast fighters intended to engage the enemy at the furthest possible distance from friendly assets that they may wish to target, causing early attrition and ideally holding the enemy at that maximum separation for as long as possible.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered an Interceptor if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Fast (Move value 10 and up)
Preferred Range: Medium (Or on the target’s tail).
Specials: Interceptors have no special ability requirements.
Transport
Transports are airborne and aerospace units that carry units, troops, or materiel to or from the battlefield. Unlike the other classifications given above, this one is uncommon to fighters, but may apply to Small Craft, DropShips, and other large airborne units such as Airship and Fixed-Wing support vehicles.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Transport if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Any
Attack: Any (Transport units have no attack requirements of any kind).
Specials: In order to be classified as a Transport, the unit must have any of the transport bay special abilities (including CK#, CT#, IT#, AT#, PT, VTM#, VTH#, or VTS#, MT#, CT#, CK#
or ST#). If the potential transport only possesses a small amount of generic cargo capacity (indicated by a CT# special with none of the other listed specials), the unit falls into the Transport classification only if the capacity is 50 tons or more (i.e., CT50 or higher).
Dogfighter
Dogfighters are medium or heavy fighters, equipped for extended toe-to-toe engagements with fighters of comparable performance and war-load. Meant for the long haul, many dogfighters typically feature a heavy energy armament and good heat-dissipation.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Dogfighter if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Medium (Thrust value 5 to 7)
Preferred Range: Medium (Dogfighters mix effective attacks and defense).
Specials: Dogfighters have no special ability requirements.
Fast Dogfighter
Fast Dogfighters are typically light or medium fighters. These units are intended to act as a “second shell interceptor”, able to engage anything that gets past the normal Interceptors, or to assist and support dedicated Interceptors once battle is joined.
In Alpha Strike terms, a unit may be considered a Fast Dogfighter if it meets the following criteria:
Speed: Fast-Medium (Thrust value 7 to 9) Preferred Range: Medium (Or on the target’s tail).
Specials: Fast Dogfighters have no special ability requirements.
Once a unit has been converted from its BattleTech stats into Alpha Strike format, players interested in balancing their games will want to determine its combat value, relative to other game play units. Although the BattleTech system reflected by Total Warfare and TechManual featured a combat rating system (known as Battle Value), which in turn appears on a unit’s Technical Readout entry, this rating system does not carry over perfectly in the conversion to Alpha Strike’s simplified, faster-playing game mechanics. Thus, for a truer sense of balance, the Alpha Strike Point Value system is recommended.
This new Point Value system will be used when generating PVs for all future Alpha Strike-related publications (including in the Era Setting: The Clan Invasion army listings section of Alpha Strike, starting with the Corrected Second Printing, as well as the Master Unit List).
The exact method for finding the Point Value (PV) of a given unit in Alpha Strike varies slightly between ground-based units (’Mechs, most vehicles, ProtoMechs, infantry, and so forth), aerospace units (fighters, fixed-wing support vehicles, and Small Craft), and large aerospace units (DropShips, JumpShips, space stations, and WarShips). Nevertheless, regardless of the unit type in question, the process centers on determining each unit’s offensive and defensive ratings, adding the two values, and applying any special modifiers for special unit features.
At the end of the conversion process, a unit’s Point Value can be adjusted for the pilot or crew’s Skill Rating, if it varies
from the normal base Skill Rating of 4. This reflects the unit’s increased (or decreased) effectiveness as a result of its operator’s ability.
DETERMINING THE POINT VALUE OF ALPHA STRIKE GROUND UNITS
The following process is used to determine the Alpha Strike Point Value for all ground based units, including BattleMechs, IndustrialMechs, ProtoMechs, infantry (conventional and battle armor), combat and support vehicles of all sizes and types (other than those built as airships, fixed-wing vehicles, or satellites), and mobile structures.
Step 1: Determine Unit’s Offensive Value
To find a ground unit’s Offensive Value, add together the following Offensive Factors:
Attack Damage Factor: Combine the unit’s standard weapon attack values at each range bracket (Short, Medium, and Long) with the unit’s Medium range attack value. For example, a unit with a standard attack of 3/2/1 would begin calculating its Offensive Value with an Attack Damage Factor of 8 (3 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 8). Count all minimal damage values (0*) as 0.
Unit Size Factor: If the unit is a ’Mech or ProtoMech, add half of its Size value. Do not round this value. All other unit types do not add a Size Factor.
A trueborn MechWarrior of Clan Jade Falcon surveys the inferior Spheroid machinery at a captured factory complex.
PO IN T V A L U E C A L C U L AT IO N S
INTRODUCTION Overheat Factor: If the unit has
no Overheat Value, it adds 0. If it possesses an OV of 1, it adds an Overheat Factor of 1. If it has an OV greater than 1, it adds an Overheat Factor equal to 1 plus 0.5 per each OV point over 1 (so, an OV2 would equal an Overheat Factor of 1.5).
Divide the unit’s Overheat Factor by 2 if it can only deliver damage at the Short range bracket.
Offensive Special Ability Fac-tor: Consult the Offensive Special Ability Factor Table (Ground Units) and add together all that apply.
Note that if a special ability’s factor value is based on its “ability rating”, it is referring to the numerical value associated with the ability.
Step 1a: Apply Blanket Offensive Modifiers
After adding up all of the Offensive Factors above, multiply the result by the sum of all the blanket multipliers listed in the Offensive Blanket Multipliers Table