[Review+Battle Report] Battle Suit Alpha

[Battle Brush Sigur]

Heyhey, following Ultravanillasmurf's suggestion I bought a copy of Wiley Games' Battle Suit Alpha. Yesterday I spontaneously put together a test game. You can read a battle report of that as well as a review of the rules here:

https://tabletopstories.net/language/en/2024/12/battle-suit-alpha-review-and-test-game/



First time I used those robot toys for wargaming; also the first time I used the newly-acquired Dropzone Commander cardboard city terrain; all a bit rag-tag (one of the robot suit isn't even finished!), but had to be done.
Hope you like the review and find it useful!

[HerbertTarkel]

Awesome battle report! How exciting that your brilliant Gundam get to be used in fun-anger! Loved it. Now looking at picking up Gundam too… 

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Good review, sounds like a fun game.

The board looks good.

[mikedemana]

The giant stompy toys look great, and the cardstock terrain also looks very nice. Sounds like you guys had a fun game, so I'd call that a success! Anytime you can get your figs out on the table, roll some dice, and give grief to your friends is a victory in my book!! 

Mike Demana

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Seems like an interesting rues set, and that was a lovely table to go with some beautiful models.

Out of curiosity, when you were asking about using models for mecha gaming did anyone mention the old Mecha! rules?  They were originally from (IIRC) Seventh Street Games, then spent a long time at Flagship Games (whose games all ended in exclamation points), and these days are available through Scale Creep (although they only seem to have scanned pdfs these days).  There's a bundle of the two things that got printed for it, but if you're not planning on using the (admittedly unique) Spirit Warrior Empire background setting the core book is really all you need.

It's an older design (early-mid 90s) but I quite liked it, and thought it did a good job at emulating Gundam.  The way initiative works is particularly innovative, and while it's a bit abstract the construction rules are also generic enough to cover most older mecha tropes.

 https://www.wargamevault.com/product/304452/Mecha---Spirit-Warrior-Bundle

[LouieN]

a fun write up with some incredible looking models.  I will check out the rules now.  I have an extensive battletech collection. 

[Battle Brush Sigur]

@HerbertTarkel: Yeah, it's funny - of course I'm quite big on the painting side of things, but ultimately the game to me is the main motivator to get stuff done. Maybe this is some sort of coping mechanism for myself to keep commission stuff and my own stuff separated. But right from the third mobile suit I did on, trying to wargame with them was a goal. Not that I ever do participation games, but I think it would make for quite a fetching one, with proper terrain and such.

@Ultravanillasmurf: Cheers. Yeah, the rules are good fun I think. Initially I was unhappy with the terrain, because it's the "quick, cheap option", but once it was all set up and had the robots runing in between, it works OK I think. Still, some nicer terrain would be cool of course. And I started putting together a pendraken order, just to have some infantry running around as well.

@mikedemana: Aye, true that. I didn't make it very clear in this battle report that it was just a solo game (as with most of my test games for rules reviews.), but I had fun by myself. Sort of. Somehow I prefer doing these testers by myself before I subject others to me having to look up stuff all the time.

@Chief Lackey Rich: Thanks very much! Nope, the Mecha! rules did not come suggested, but the name rings a bell. I'll look into them!

@LouieN: Cheers! The rules should be really good for Battletech I think. As mentioned, the rules feature an extensive list of equivalents of Battlemechs.

[BaronVonJ]

Thanks again for battle report. The rules are whatever mechs you have, or even kaiju. We just had a game with old VOR minis using the beasties as monsters to fight some mechs, tested a game with my original Adeptus Titanicus mechs.

[HerbertTarkel]

After watching the earliest Gundam I could find (1981!), I ordered a bunch of Gundam and Zaku for doing something like this.

Also the Wiley rules, and special cards!

[Battle Brush Sigur]

After watching the earliest Gundam I could find (1981!), I ordered a bunch of Gundam and Zaku for doing something like this.

Also the Wiley rules, and special cards!

I fully expect Bandai's and BaronvonJ's cheques in the mail then.

Yeah, I just rewatched the first Gundam film as well. Of course it's of its time, and I could do with less face-slapping, but on the other hand I'm a sucker for 80s japanese cartoon robot and space ship designs.

[HerbertTarkel]

I fully expect Bandai's and BaronvonJ's cheques in the mail then.

Yeah, I just rewatched the first Gundam film as well. Of course it's of its time, and I could do with less face-slapping, but on the other hand I'm a sucker for 80s japanese cartoon robot and space ship designs.

 

The 1981 film was far better than the 2024 (two films) I watched; the one ended with a whole lotta arguing about who deserved love - it was very bizarre!

Amuro does get slapped a lot. He probably deserved it. 

[Battle Brush Sigur]

The 1981 film was far better than the 2024 (two films) I watched; the one ended with a whole lotta arguing about who deserved love - it was very bizarre!

Amuro does get slapped a lot. He probably deserved it. 

Oh yes, this may make me extremely ignorant, but I'd rather catch up with stuff from 1981 to 1994 than watch new stuff. I'm not fond of the digital look of new stuff, and mentally I'm not at a point yet at which I can put up with students using mobile suits for sporty competition or something. I'm happy with Universal Century "real robot" military sci-fi. I'd like to watch Cucuruz Doan's Island, and maybe very particular later bits as well, but so far I'm happy with Gundam I, II, III and Char's Counter-Attack. Btw, it's really funny how much easier I found following these films on the second go, when I knew a bit more about the whole story.

In general I got some peculiar cut-off dates for anime stuff I like to watch to avoid digital looking stuff. Of course these get moved around a bit. Used to be 1994 (Evanglion, which I love to bits since I watched it at the right time, when it hits you the most with all the teen angst and existential stuff. But I never liked it for the design of the giant robots. It fit the show perfectly well, because it changed everything, but I'm not interested in model kits of the EVAs for instance. Well. Not a lot. Right now.), then I watched Trigun a few years ago (which I really enjoyed), so it got moved a little bit back, then I watched Cowboy Bebop, which moved the cut-off date back to 1997 or so. Of course there's always good stuff after that, no question, but as far as action tv shows I'm very cautious.

[Chief Lackey Rich]

When it comes to older anime, my soft spot is Aura Battler Dunbine with those freaky insect-themed biomecha.  Just something about fantasy/mech mashups that appeal to me, maybe because throwing magic into the mix makes it easier to suspend disbelief.

Which might explain my time investment in that Aether Nexus RPG that came out in October.  Really not a subgenre that's well-served in gaming.  Closest I can think of was the old Spirit Warrior Empire setting for Mecha! but that wasn't really fantasy, just badly-understood supertech seen through the lens of a fairly primitive culture that was being manipulated by aliens pretending to be gods.

[Easy E]

Great little write up. 

I think they game is crying out for some Scopedogs and Fatties though.   

[HerbertTarkel]

Oh yes, this may make me extremely ignorant, but I'd rather catch up with stuff from 1981 to 1994 than watch new stuff. I'm not fond of the digital look of new stuff, and mentally I'm not at a point yet at which I can put up with students using mobile suits for sporty competition or something. I'm happy with Universal Century "real robot" military sci-fi. I'd like to watch Cucuruz Doan's Island, and maybe very particular later bits as well, but so far I'm happy with Gundam I, II, III and Char's Counter-Attack. Btw, it's really funny how much easier I found following these films on the second go, when I knew a bit more about the whole story.

In general I got some peculiar cut-off dates for anime stuff I like to watch to avoid digital looking stuff. Of course these get moved around a bit. Used to be 1994 (Evanglion, which I love to bits since I watched it at the right time, when it hits you the most with all the teen angst and existential stuff. But I never liked it for the design of the giant robots. It fit the show perfectly well, because it changed everything, but I'm not interested in model kits of the EVAs for instance. Well. Not a lot. Right now.), then I watched Trigun a few years ago (which I really enjoyed), so it got moved a little bit back, then I watched Cowboy Bebop, which moved the cut-off date back to 1997 or so. Of course there's always good stuff after that, no question, but as far as action tv shows I'm very cautious.

I think we’re of a similar age; I too find the earlier stuff to be “better”; some of the new has better effects and animation, maybe, but it lacks in story and sometimes the animation overwhelms the story - case in point the 6 part series that was out late last year, or the 2024 movie.

I have found Hathaway (2021) was good, something of a throwback almost to the earlier anime.

Still working my way through the shows! My first Gundam are being delivered today!