Battletech: Alpha Strike, Where Should You Start?

hey there war Gamers Justin your painter here and today we're going to talk about some Alpha strike [Applause] I'd like to welcome you guys back to the channel thank you so much for supporting what I do if you're new here hit that like subscribe button buckle up we're going to talk about some battle Tech Alpha strike and I've got a variety of things here to talk about today uh first and foremost big shout out to Fortress Miniatures and games Mr Bobby Ash here has done a lot to help support what I do and he's a local so if you're looking for anything battle Tech related head on over to his website we have a link in the description below and second big shout out to Dave alsiger from the battle Tech Community he does a lot of things in the background that some of you guys may or may not know if you are a supporters of what I do or you hang out at Southern assault or purchase stuff for Bobby Dave elsiger does a lot on the back end to help out with Southern assaults and just answer General battle Tech questions and discords and things of that nature I've got a few boxes here that he contributed uh when I was doing my unboxing videos I'd already painted minis from it and parted things out and he had sent some boxes for me to just keep um and to be able to do the the unboxings with on my YouTube channel with the um caveat being that if I do something with them to honor his buddy I believe a friend of his past I think he said he played Merrick for world's League something like that but he wanted me to use these to help grow the game do something with the community not just like sell it and profit from it so I've still got a couple of boxes here from him that he sent and I haven't painted The Minis yet but I've got a bunch of stuff trying to do content to do right by him and at some point try and do some some local games and some how to plays learn to play his intro to battle Tech or Alpha strike type stuff so with the uh Preamble there set what are we going to talk about today so we've got a variety of boxes here um and I have done unboxing videos on a game armor combat Clan Invasion the beginner box Alpha strike and the new beginner box so uh if you are in the market uh it's over the holidays you're thinking about getting something for a friend maybe getting something for yourself or asking for something as a gift check out those unboxing videos will help you discern what it is that's in these and may help the information I'm going to talk about today making of help make you make your decision making process a little bit easier so if you're looking to get into BattleTech Alpha strike the first thing you're probably curious about is like what do I need there's a few obvious things that aren't up here you're gonna need some dice measuring tapes game mat hopefully some some sort of some terrain which we definitely designs also make those are the obvious things that you're going to need um for doing any kind of War gaming stuff so I'm going to assume you have access to that access to a computer access to master unit list if you're not familiar with that is I will have a video at some point breaking down what that is the utility and how it is super powerful if you know how to sift through and search for things in that actual uh list Builder or unit um kind of database that's provided for us but at the beginning here what boxes should you look into I do want to preface this by saying we're not going to talk about the force packs today I do have unboxing videos on all of those on the channel at least what is out to date so if you're interested in seeing what's in those check out the channel you can see the unboxings those are a little bit more specific because those are you literally picking what next you want to play with to get started with Alpha strike though there are a few other things that I think are important and easy to get you in the game and keep your investment level low so first and foremost I highly recommend two things to start with uh the first thing here is the alpha strike box now this box right here has uh just come out they've had it at a couple of conventions and shows I've got some unboxing or an unboxing video breaking this down as well uh it is a heck of a value so this box at retail MSRP is 79.99 you're going to get uh five Clan mix and eight eight inner sphere mix so two lances of inner sphere one star of uh Clan mechs in addition to some fold out terrain some paper kind of terrain or card stock train is pretty nice and some Battlefield support cards which is another element to Alpha strike that is often overlooked because people don't use it so 80 MSRP for that that's a great place to start if you purchase only this there's nothing here to get started basic rules on how to play Alpha strike for you and a friend to play and that could be all that you need assuming that you can get this when this is out right now I think Fortress currently has pre-orders up uh catalyst is currently selling them at cons I think on their website but actual stores have not got it as a film in this that may change but the time this video goes up so if you've picked up your Alpha strike box or if you're looking at picking up an outstrike box you may be wondering well why this instead of any of this so the first thing I would say is the game remember combat and these other boxes are a hell of a value they are very good the big difference between Alpha strike and a game room or combat is it is twenty dollars more however you're getting uh 13 Mex versus 8. so if you're interested in getting a complete package and trying to get into it this is an easy way for you and a friend to split and play because you have the clan stuff versus the inner sphere stuff whereas the game armor combat is only two lances of inner sphere so eight Megs so but it is 20 more so what would you have to do to mirror that value so you're paying 80 bucks versus sixty dollars so 79.99 versus I think 49.99 um let me check that sorry 59.99 I know it's gonna get something wrong uh so again 20 difference basically five more mechs to match that for game remember combat you would have to pick up the clan Invasion box here the clan Invasion box is 49.99 so 59.99 49.99 10 difference that's going to net you five more Clan mix and two battle armor that's the main difference between it if you buy both of these you're going to get two battle armor over this that's the main difference the components inside of this are also tailored for BattleTech classic BattleTech not Alpha strike so if you're following me on the math here we've got 179.99 we've got one 59.99 and 149.99 so if you were trying to get an alpha strike and you wanted to match what comes in this box with these boxes you're going to be looking at 60 bucks plus 50 bucks 110 right 110 yeah 110 versus 80. the only difference is you're missing out on two battle armor in here so it is the 30 difference between these two and this one to get the same number of models worth it to you to get the two battle armor that come in here I would say no if you're a new player you could pick up an actual star of battle armor uh for probably less than thirty dollars so you could make up that difference if you are interested in classic battle Tech the extra things that come here the mech sheets the unit or unit cards and stuff like that will be useful for you but if you're trying to get an alpha strike this is the the easy way to get in quickly so we'll get back to these boxes in a moment but we're going to move on to what I think is the the secondary uh or add-on purchase to do with BattleTech Alpha strength now while this box may be everything that you need in one place um it is not the full complete rules you'll be able to play it out of the box and get some basic games going but if you want to get the full flavor of alpha strike you're gonna have to get a book so for that I highly recommend picking up the alpha strike Commander's Edition now this one's a little bit difficult to get sometimes it's out of stock in a lot of places and this right here is going to come in at um 39.99 sorry all of these product boxes and prices and things you can find online cheaper if you have a local store support I recommend doing that especially if you play there if you spend money there that helps put food on the table for the store owner but also keeps the doors open so that you can play games at that shop but that being said this book is the most recent copy of the BattleTech Alpha strike rules again this is going to be coming in at 39.99 so uh if you added this with the box set here that's 120 so at that point you're looking at ten dollars more than buying a gamer bomba combat and Clan Invasion but you get the full rule book right so increased value uh instead of buying these get the same number of mix with a book now if you are interested in getting in but you can't find that book maybe you only found this one this is the old one this is the I think 2019 or 2020. um basically this was the first printing from the kickstarter where they uh the wave ones uh wave one shipments of all the models came with this if you bought it and the wave twos came with this one which has all the erratas and FAQs in it you can see this one's used a bit more I have all my my notes and my my little sticky notes and my cards and my papers on this one this one's heavily used this one is very new now don't fret if this is the only one that you can find and right now Fortress has this one on sale for 25 because it is the old printing you'll be just fine for basic level uh entry level battle Tech stuff or excuse me Alpha strike stuff this is going to do you just fine if it's all that you can find um I participated last year in southern assault 2021 this is the current book that was out I still used this book That's how little has changed there are changes but you can find the erratus and the FAQs and print those if this is all that you can find if you can get this one and you have the funds I highly recommend getting the new one because it has all the new stuff in here especially if you're a new player because it's all the information is fresh and you don't have to worry so much about the FAQ and rather changes that this one had but don't let the difference in the books stand in your way out of one of these will do you just fine until any major changes happen and that's been a staple in the BattleTech Community for a while a lot of the rulebooks and stuff they've done the years especially for classic haven't really changed it's been minor stuff and these two books as far as I could tell are no different there's not a huge major difference especially if you're not a hyper competitive player and like I said I participated in Bobby's tournament last year using the the out of date book and you probably most people probably don't even notice the difference um so uh this year at Southern salt 2022 a few rules changes in the actual current book uh did catch me off guard but an opponent explained it to me it was just some minor changes that we didn't know until he printed out the pages so things do change but you'll be just fine with that so uh you now know um if you want to get started you got the off strike box you got a rule book that's enough to get you started but perhaps funds are a little bit more flush for you perhaps the holidays and you are trying to get together a holiday list for what you might want to ask for from friends and family or things you might want to do for friends where should you go from here if you've got the alpha strike box and a rulebook what would you do and why so if you're looking at expanding your Mech forces beyond the force packs this is where this stuff here in the beginner Box come into play in my opinion it has never been easier to get into BattleTech whether it's classic or Alpha strike and the cost of the models is so low when you're comparing Alpha strike to let's say Warhammer 40K or even Star Wars Legion you're looking at hundreds of dollars for Legion maybe a thousand dollars for 40K you're at the low hundreds for Alpha strike or less you could literally just start with this box in a rulebook so 110 bucks full MSRP you're good to go if you get it at a discount your sub 100 if you're looking to expand however and you've got a little bit extra cash I think the uh the likely options for you are to consider picking up a game of armor combat or Clan Invasion or both it's another 120 value on top that's going to net you another 13 Mex and two battle armor now if you're only getting one as I put or presented before I think the alpha strike box plus the rulebook is the way to go if you've got a little bit extra discretionary funds this is going to double your four sizes plus get you two battle armors and you're gonna get a variety of mix you're going to get some duplicates from across the three but you're going to get a nice variety and plenty of models for you and an opponent or friend to play with generally when you're playing uh if you're playing inner sphere uh at whatever Point Zone you're playing you're probably going to outnumber the clanners um so this is going to give you um you've got eight mix in here eight mechs in here so 16 mechs um I think that's a reinforced company I could be wrong so in the comments let me know but that's going to give you four lances of mix right versus the two stars for the clanners plus the battle armor so it's still neck and neck if unibody are splitting it or you want to play that's still plenty of stuff that's still fluffy it's still accurate it gives you a lot of variety in terms of what models you might want to bring to the table to bring destruction upon your foes now if you're looking to maximize your collection opportunities the last two boxes that you have here are the beginner boxes now the beginner rock box here on the right has The Vindicator and a Griffin and it comes in at 24.99 MSRP the beginner box on my left here has a Wolverine and a Griffin and it comes in at 19.99. this is the most recent Printing and if I am on honest if you are looking to pick up the alpha strike maybe these boxes and one of these skip the standard beginner box with the Griffin on the front I'll explain why this box here does cost five more dollars but you're getting a Griffin and a Vindicator these boxes here do not have a griffin or a Vindicator this is the only way to get those two models now the other beginner box does have a griffin but it has a wolverine The Wolverine already comes in a game of armor combat for me personally if I was going to get four of these five I would select this one as my fourth one so that I get two unique mechs without duplicates if you buy the other beginner box you're going to get a secondary Wolverine maybe you'll want it maybe you don't for me I like variety if you get the beginner box here and this is game of armor combat that is 10 unique mechs no duplicates if you get a gamerama combat plus the beginner box plus the clan Invasion you're going to have uh 15 unique mix plus two battle armor now with the alpha strike box thrown in you're gonna have some some overlaps or some duplicates because it's got a timberwolf in here which is a duplicate um I don't remember if this has the fire moth in it let's take a quick peek uh this does not have the fire moth so uh it looks like it's got the the Nova I think or the Blackhawk so you may have one or two duplicates from this one for the planners you're going to have the Locust as a duplicate for the inner sphere and I think the Stinger it's a quick peek uh no no so you are limited on um the number of duplicates from here you're not going to get as many so it's not too bad um but it's a heck of a lot better to pick this one up than that one so we're looking to get into Alpha strike what is the minimum investment to get you started as we said before if you're keeping track you've got 79.99 for the alpha strike box plus uh 40 or 39.99 for the rule book at a minimum at full MSRP you're looking at um 110 for the book rulebook and Alpha strike if you want to expand I highly recommend again armor combat and Clan Invasion you're looking at 59.99 and 49.99 so you're looking at another hundred and uh it's 120. can I do math I'm sorry this is not one ten it's 120 I think I said the wrong number uh so you've got uh man losing my train of thought here too much stuff coming too fast 79.99 plus the alpha strike rule book at 40 bucks so 120 I think I said 110 I'm sorry 120. and if you want to add on for another 110 uh you can add on 15 more mechs and or excuse me 13 more mechs and two battle armor that brings you up to 230 total and as the uh the final uh icing on the cake you can make that a a flat two I don't say flat it'd be a 255 get you the beginner box added on and that's going to give you five mechs two battle armor eight more mechs so 13 Mex two battle armor two more mechs so 15 Mex two battle armor and then you're gonna be adding on another 13. so that's a heck of a lot of mechs for sub 300 and this is all in uh Standard Wholesale or also a retail pricing if you happen to be shopping online because you don't have a local shop to support or you just want to support Fortress Miniatures and games all of these are discounted I think that he's got the alpha strike box up for um I think it's 69.99 it might be 59.99 one second and just like that I have confirmed it is a 59.99 for this box so he's got all of these things discounted at about the same rate I think that's about 25 off going from 80 to uh to 60 20 saving so if you're looking at 255 to get all of these plus a rule book minus you know between uh 20 or you know 10 to 20 off something like that um you're coming out well ahead um just a little over 200 bucks at that point heck of a deal and it's plenty of models and honestly if you want to go and start adding Force packs after that you're looking at um 30 or less to get somewhere between four and six more models a standard inner sphere Lance is includes four models and that's going to be between uh 20 and 25 dollars give or take a clan box is going to be um five models must be gonna be between 25 and 30 depending on which one you get and then the uh level six which I believe is the com star inspired one I think those are 30 or 35 for six models so it scales up as you get more but it's very affordable and you can pick and choose what you want and if a particular box has a Mech that you do want you don't want the other ones the secondary market for training is really good you might be able to even buy a box with four mechs five Mech something like that in there pick out the one you want and then trade the other three four off or sell them and pay for the box or increase your value depending on what it is you're trying to do so don't let the overall investment to get in scare you too much I know when you look at 40K and you're like I gotta get a rule book I gotta get an army I got to get all this stuff it starts to pile up and be really expensive battle Tech Alpha strike's not that way you can gradually build and you can play in a budget that in my opinion um is palatable and approachable for almost anyone looking at this where it comes in at 60 bucks plus the rulebook that Bobby has on sale as well I think you can get the rulebook and that for sub 100 it's very hard to get into most mini games at that price point um Star Wars Legion is pretty affordable but 100 isn't going to get you much maybe the two player starter which is comparable but this also you get the rule book you're probably not getting started in Warhammer 40K for 100 bucks I don't even know if you could do a war machine or hordes or their new game at anywhere in the same price point so I think this is reasonable especially if you have someone to play with that being said folks I know that I was a little bit jumbled there and uh a little really just excited to share my love of BattleTech and Alpha strike and try and give you guys some pointers on where to begin to get in and what you should purchase hopefully that helps if you have any questions at all sound off in the comments below as always if you enjoyed this hit that like subscribe hopefully we'll catch you guys in a future video but as always I've rambled too much as I do keep painting those models keep rolling those Dice and I will catch you guys next time [Music]

Channel: The Armed Painter

Views: 9,212

Keywords: Miniatures, GamesWorkshop, Hobbies, Hobby, Warhammer40k, Warhammer, Space Marines, War Gaming, Warhammer 40k, Warhammer 40000, Kill Team, Painting, Tutorial, DIY, How To, Painting Tutorial, Wargaming, Games Workshop, Citadel, #TheArmedPainter, #DeathRayDesigns, Air Brushing, Catalyst Game Labs, FASA, Battletech, Alpha Strike, MechWarrior, MWO, HBS, table top

Id: azyeYCOHVEM

Length: 18min 44sec (1124 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 08 2022