So, How do the Aces Cards work?

 Hey Folks, another day, another article. Today we're going to take a closer look at the cards from the Aces Campaign Boxed Set from Catalyst Game Labs. If you're curious how this entire thing works, buckle up, we're off to the races.  

Designed by Lynnvander Studios, Aces is an expansion for the Alpha Strike rules set which features an algorithmic approach for the opposing team. Using a deck of cards, the opposition is capable of driving itself.  

What does that mean for me as a player?

Well, for the first time in its entirety, you can play BattleTech by yourself, using the Alpha Strike rules. You dont need to drag a friend kicking and screaming to play giant robots anymore.  

It also gives you an opportunity to play cooperatively with a friend. This gives you an easy way to drag the aforementioned friend whining and grumbling into your hobby without making it a confrontation. You play together against the AI.  

*Note, there are multiple types of cards in this box, and today we're going to focus on the Aces cards themselves. We'll go over the Command and Special Order cards another time*  

What does a deck look like?

So how does that work?

Each deck corresponds to a unit role in Alpha Strike, (units that share a type share a deck). Units move, fire, and exhibit any other behavior on their cards as listed. Once a card's steps have been completed, the card is placed on the bottom of the deck and the next card is ready for play. Once the deck has been cycled through, its shuffled and returned to the play area, ready for the next turn.  

The Aces sorties have a detailed setup with layouts for the map, opposing forces and cards to use. As turns progress, automated units are activated, move, and take their actions according to their cards.  

This allows the entire system to run for both single player and cooperative games efficiently and quickly, (like most things, speed will pick up with repetition). The card driven AI is robust and can be very efficient at Alpha Strike.  

(This is the anatomy of a card diagram from the Aces Rulebook. I'm not going to go over it again you can read)

But what if I want to make my own cards and sorties?

Good news, with a catch. The Aces Rulebook talks about modifying the decks, which is a step away from creating your own decks for your own sorties (the Aces term for scenario or mission). At the time of this article there does not appear to be an intention to release a stand alone book for Aces, so home brewers will still need a copy of the Scouring Sands box (or the announced but unreleased Snowblind). You'll need to design your own cards for the decks, as well as the Commanders. I'm sure that there are some enterprising graphic designers in our community working on those.  

Designing your own Sorties is going to be a largely trial and error process, but i believe that there are many talented members of our hobby who've already started designing their own. From there its a couple of steps to link your sorties in new and creative ways and you've written a campaign! Good work you!

So, I hope that this gives you some insight into the Aces cards. We'll be back later this week with a lance pack review and next week hopefully the weather is nice enough to paint while we dig more into Aces.