Battletech: Sleeper Units, What Units Surprise You?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- Tune in today as we discuss Sleeper Units in Battletech Alpha Strike.
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One strategy for finding strong units is to average their short/medium damage profiles and divide their PV by that. Helps to find cost efficient units. The Griffin C WAS really sleeper as a tanky scout but they nerfed/recalculated its PV from 37 to 45. The Axman 1N is quite good for it's points. 33 points for 4/4/0, decent armor and mobility. I know it's ridiculous but I really want to use a Charger C. 16" movement on an assault is just too funny. I'd use it to force big sniper mechs into using melee.
I mean, this is why the Shadow Hawk is one of my favorite Mechs. On paper it's a crap secondline Mech with a Garrison loadout. In practice, it isn't a worse Wolverine or Griffin. It's just it's own thing that tends to impress me, because what it does, and what a functional analysis in "What If"-Land are very different. It's a much better experience than being disappointed by units that carry higher expectations.
I've found the Viper is a bit of a sleeper for me. My last game of Alpha Strike on the tabletop I baited my opponent into a duel with my big Clan heavies and assaults, but used a Viper and a Nova on the flank, taking full advantage of that jump to get them into position, forcing my opponent to either slap them down or just ignore them and focus on the scary Dire Wolf on the battle line.
When the dust cleared and everything on the front line was crippled or destroyed, I still had my opponent having to pick which flanker to chase, always ending up exposing back shots to somebody. Finishing the scary high value heavies and assaults was good, but the harassers kept chipping away until I locked down the field.
I guess my story is less about sleeper units, and more on the value of playing the roles well.
Pegasus Hovercraft. Epona. any version of the Locust. They all are basically auto-includes in lists.
some interesting points. I need to look at vehicles more and what they have to offer in Alpha Strike
Interesting video. AS sleepers for me: Catapult K2K (TM2, 7 armor, ENE, 37 pts), Cicada 3F (objective jumper, 4 armor, 32 points). Last tourney, the Catapult backed up my Linebacker D glass cannon, and the Cicada grabbed objectives along with a Viper Prime. The Clan mechs drew a lot of attention, leaving the Catapult and Cicada time to get the job done.
"Quantity is quality." And I think that tactically and strategically it is.
Have you ever thought to play Urban Army battle? Standard models cost 10-15 points depending on the skill. Of course, in terms of buying models, this is a dubious waste of money, but for fun... Just imagine how 10-40 boxes with autocannons are slowly approaching enemy positions🤣
I definitely want to see a battle report like this )
could you cover the jumping with strong or weak jump jets and the to hit modifier.
The awesome surprised me. After playing MW4 (and now MW5) since I was a kid, the awesome just…wasn’t. But the awesome was the mech that dropped the realization on me that the mechwarrior mechs DO NOT translate to tabletop…because in the tabletop the awesome…IS. Also, nice Stalin quote ;)
There is an Awesome variant I do like. It has 3/3/3 for damage and isn't too expensive. Not a 'huge' damage dealer but consistent 3 damage to toss out at all ranges and a load of HP to chew through before he's gone. :)
hey thanks for the video never enough tanks in BT I always thought Battletech would be a great rules set to use for Hammers Slammers if folks aren't into mechs
There's a bunch of mechs that are awful in BattleTech but work really well in Alpha Strike - the 3025 and 3050 Shadow Hawks for example, and the JagerMech with the gauss rifles punches so far above its weight in Alpha Strike because it can just hang back and fire inwards without drawing enemy attention.
On the tank front, there's some really sold ones for medium-long range direct fire support, I quite like the Demolisher with the gauss rifles and the light gauss Ontos as solid units that can take and hold a position on their own. For indirect fire there's a load of units that are cheap and only have a point or two of IF but work well in a team. I have a unit I call the shitbox militia - it's representing the average militia force on some backwater planet and when we use the lance special ability rules, their fire lance of 2 Hunters and 2 Strikers does sterling work even with skill 5 - hide our of view, an infantry platoon at the back of the table on elevated terrain spots for them, and all of a sudden they're hitting on like 7s-9s depending on their target and who's got the oblique artilleryman SPA that turn.
Try the LRM version of those Bulldogs.
I'm curious about your use of high skill level (7's?!?!) but low point cost units (making them even cheaper). Can you talk more about this strategy?
I had been thinking the same thing for objective captures (and the crazy number of Stinger models I ended up with) but I've found keeping them at a reasonable skill level also makes them very usable as flankers or as finishers for damaged units. Once a unit is down to structure, even landing a 1 point hit at range (or 2 in the back) can be really good. Light mechs are easy to hide until they can bring the dagger against a heavily damaged assault mech.
Anyway, love these videos you're doing about the games/your experience.
Most lights that I run at skill 7 are going for rear shots at short short range which helps offset the skill difference. Additionally, low skill high cost lights are still just as easy to kill. A Fire Moth is an extreme example but it only has two pips of life. If someone hits it’s usually dead. If I make it lean and use it for rear shots, battle armor deployment, and objective capturing I get more use out of it and if it dies, oh well not much lost material wise.
I find opponents may also ignore them for a lack of fear of them which lets you focus on objective capturing or getting battle armor into position. If they do however focus them the number of shots they require to take down for the TMM they often have sometimes makes the shots feel worthless and any shot against that low point throw away unit is a shot a heavier easier to hit unit of yours is not taking.
Basically, I treat them as pawns lol
@@Thearmedpainter Do you find any particular mechs/vehicles that work better in this role? Obviously there's lots of options. My thoughts on the using Stingers in this way was tied to how many of the old ones I had (so many 3rd edition box set ones!), and how many of the new models I ended up with, but also because they are reasonably fast/jump capable and without the offensive power of some of the other 20 tonners like some of the wasp and locust variants. Fireball maybe?
On the clan side Dashers would seem to fit the bill, but even some of those variants have an attack value of 4, and it seems like a very fast mech with 4 damage could be a menace with a better skilled pilot and high TMM.
@@Thearmedpainter At Skill 7, you can run a Wasp- WSP3W for 7 points.
Warrior vtols and striker light tanks. Super cheap in the warriors cases so hard to hit and really hurt tanks and stinks to have them get in your back field. Strikers really really cheap and can very easily lob missiles.
are those Bulldogs printed minis? i'm new to BT and not recognizing those anywhere when i search for Bulldogs.
Death Ray Designs ;)
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@@Thearmedpainter yooo thanks for the link! been sorta binging thru your videos lately ❤️
Where do you go to print off those battle cards and sheets?
masterunitlist.info
It’s in my list of things to do a video on :)
@@Thearmedpainter thank you, looking forward to seeing that video :).
Skill 7 is basically cheating. Completely breaks the PV formula. Your opponent would spend more pv shelling a lance of skill 7 2hp light tanks on an objective with artillery than they are worth. The 2d6 system only works at skill 4, and is good enough at 3-5. Anything below or above should be banned outright imo.
Where do you get the alpha strike vehicle's?
DeathRayDesigns.com :) coupon code getAMPED10 will knock 10% off
@@Thearmedpainter cool
'Quantity has a quality all its own.'
- Joseph Stalin
Hah! Didn't realize that was a quote from history. That and "Trust but verify." Two quotes I sometimes use.