Hey Folks, we’re back with another product review. Today we’re going to play a little bit of catch up as this one’s been on the market for a couple of years now. Just because it’s got some age to it doesn’t mean it’s not fantastic. Today we’re looking at Alpha Strike (Boxed Set). Let’s do some analyzing and we’ll go over the contents of the box in our typical nutty way. Let’s see what we can see, all right?
First things first, this is effectively a 2 player starter set for the Alpha Strike rules and contains everything, (and i do mean everything but the 2nd player) that you will need to get started with Alpha Strike. The set retails at $80.00 in your finer local hobby stores and at the Catalyst Web Store (i’ll have a link at the bottom for you, should you be interested). It has been my experience that a 2 player starter set for a miniature wargame rarely dips below $100, and you can find some that are especially pricey.
So, what do i mean that everything you need is in the Box?
Contents
13 plastic Mechs!!
(Note, that like all of CGL’s boxed releases, these come fully assembled and ready to play right out of the box). In this box is a pair of forces, one clan, one Inner Sphere (though you could split the Inner sphere side in half to let a 3rd player in on the action). The Clan Side contains a Fire Moth, a Nova, a Pouncer, a Timber Wolf and a Warhawk. The Inner Sphere side is Wasp, Locust, Phoenix Hawk, Blackjack, Wraith, Archer, Warhammer, and Atlas. The miniature quality is high, with fully assembled minis ready to play out of the box. I didn’t notice any barrel issues or bent parts anywhere. There’s a little bit of flashing that you’ll need to get them ready for paint, but that’s not uncommon with this line.
Clan
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Inner Sphere
Cardboard terrain!
This box set comes with several easily folded (and unfolded) cardboard buildings that can hold the weight of any of the mechs in the box.
Cardboard Trees and Tokens!
This box set features a small assortment of Objective tokens, movement tokens, and other helpful battlefield indicators along with several cardboard trees to simulate forested environments. In total, there are two sheets of these tokens
Note: Alpha Strike is not played traditionally on a Hex map, so this box does not include any.
Pilot Cards!
The Box has double sided pilot cards for each of the mechs presented in the box, covering a variety of affiliations and eras.
Inner Sphere
Clan
Alpha Strike Cards!
Honestly, i’d be a little mad if these weren’t in the box. There are 13 double sided Alpha Strike cards (one for each mech in the box). Each card features two different versions or configurations of the mech they represent. These are dry erase friendly, though most folks i know that play frequently with cards grab an aftermarket set of card sleeves.
Inner Sphere
Clan
Note: These cards have blank spaces for Skill so you can easily modify your skill rating.
Battlefield Support Deck!
A new feature designed to add in other elements of Battletech while keeping the action focused, Battlefield Support Cards are resources that a player can use during the course of the game to bring down artillery support or an aerospace fighter attack. Rules for using these are detailed in the…
4 Copies of Light Strike
4 Copies of Heavy Strike
4 Copies of Light Bombing
4 Copies of Heavy Bombing
4 Copies of Thumper
4 Copies of Sniper
Quickstart Alpha Strike Rules!
This is a booklet designed for new players to ease them into Alpha Strike. All the basic rules of the game are presented and you can play a variety of different mission types using the contents of this box and these rules. (The Battlefield Support Rules are covered here).
Chaos Theory!
A short Novella by Bryan Young to get you interested in the action of BattleTech.
Primer!
This is a “The Universe at a Glance” book for Battletech. It gives players a rough idea of what’s going on with the Universe, and is an excellent inspiration point to jump off into deeper dives .
Dice!
The basic white six sided dice that built the Titanic, i mean, a very simple pair of six sided dice.
(Dice not pictured, use your imaginations)
Chart!
A Double sided quick reference of the most commonly referenced charts for Alpha Strike. This box could honestly use a second one of these so that both players have one.
Breakdown:
In Terms of Plastic Robots, the box is a fantastic value. The Inner Sphere side has very common designs (and the Wraith) that fit into the armies of almost any faction in the game (on the Inner Sphere side). The Clan Side of the Box is a standard star of Invasion era Omnimechs and does a solid mix of weight classes and play styles. The Wraith is a bit of an outlier, and this box is so far the only way to get one. I wouldn’t buy this box just for the Wraith, it’s value is far greater than that as a resource for teaching new players. It’s also great to expand your forces if you’ve acquired the other boxes in the Catalyst Boxed game selections.
The cardboard terrain and the buildings give you the start of your first battlefield terrain kit. The QSR is a good stopgap until you can get the Alpha Strike Commanders Edition rulebook. That book is the complete version of the Alpha Strike Rules but you can have an absolute blast learning the game from this box without adding in any additional purchases. When you’re ready, we’ll have some suggestions.
In terms of Alpha Strike, the box is an excellent starting point for the war game eperience. Further, if you’re careful with the buildings and the trees, you can take them apart and put them back in the box when you’re done. If you keep the plastic insert, you can even store the 13 mechs and the dice that come in the box. I’d be careful storing it vertically, because you’re going to have slippage in the cards and dice.
AS Point Cost (in the box)
Using the most expensive versions of the cards presented in the box, the clan side comes in at 225 points (Before skill modification). The Inner Sphere Forces top out at 281, (before Skill mods). The easiest way to balance this is to increase the skill rating of the Clan forces to get closer, and then you will be recreating a lof of the battles of Clan Invasion.
The Master Unit List has different variations you can try out with these machines. However, that’s outside what’s available in this boxed set. The counterpoint to that is that with the Master Unit List, you can find other robots you want to try out and experiment. Battletech does not have “What You See is What You Get” rules. That means that so long as you and your opponent can clearly identify what is what, you can proxy anything you want to.
Battle Value
This isn’t calculated for these boxes, and i would suggest you use the Master Unit List to identify what the BV of your force (and specific variations) is. Note, that without Hex Maps, you’re going to have a more interesting time trying to play BattleTech.
Thoughts:
I really, really like this box. It’s a fantastic two player starter (Three if you’re being careful with unit groupings) and comes with everything you’d need to play the game other than player 2. The minis are very good, and you can be playing your first game within 20 minutes of opening the box. It’s pretty damn perfect as a product goes.
Overall Rating:
5 stars.
You can pick this up at the Catalyst Web Store Here, or you can hit up your friendly local game store. If they don’t have it, maybe they can order it. Remember, retail is $79.99.
The next purchase you’ll probably want to make is the Alpha Strike Commander’s Edition Rulebook, also available on the webstore here, or at your flgs.
That’s it for us for today, i hope this review is helpful for you and you give Alpha Strike a try.
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