Big Stompy Robots playtest (or BattleSuit Alpha)

    Attacking Mechs (aka Big Stompy Robots) advance towards the moonbase that is our objective

I have to admit, I never played Battletech - that game with giant robots blasting away at each other in the distant future. Robots? Yes, I know that some versions of it envision a man inside the suit, ala the Matrix and "Knuckle up!" Either way, it was never something I bought figures for nor remember playing. So, when Keith and Andy in our Sunday night gamers group expressed a desire to try the Wiley Games version of Big Stompy Robots, aka BattleSuit Alpha, a try, I wasn't jumping up and down in joy, but nor was I saying "Not for me!"

    Wiley Games now makes custom decks for their various rules sets with special rules printed on each

So far, we have given a number of the Wiley Games rules a try. It began when Andy ran their Western game, Fistful of Lead. Then, I ran my post-Apocalyptic game with the Core Rules - their generic rules for any period. Next, Keith ran their Starfighters game with X-wings and TIE fighters (and various other space ships from the Star Wars universe). I was worried that we would end up doing so many games with Wiley Games rules that it wouldn't feel like we were playing the PERIOD, but were instead just playing Wiley Games. I remember many years ago when we were playing Hordes of The Things (HOTT) a decent amount, we began experimenting using those rules for all kinds of periods. One of our Sunday night gamers at the time, Zeke, exploded one evening and said, "Not EVERY GAME is a version of HOTT!" He had a point, and after that we cooled off on the ancient galley wars version of HOTT, the spaceship version of HOTT, and so on.

    Andy, right, was one of the organizers of the game - here he watches to ensure Allen doesn't cheat :)

Now, in our playing of Starfighters, we found it DID have a completely different feel than either Andy's Western or my post-Apocalyptic game. Basic mechanics were similar (which isn't bad), but the feel of the game was different. There were enough different special or extra rules mechanics that made it feel sufficiently different. Would Big Stompy Robots be a bridge too far, though? No, as we discovered, it did not. There was enough of a different feel that it felt like we were gaming a period. Granted, it is not a period that I am overly familiar with, so I am not a good judge of it. However, both Keith and Andy are fans of stompy robots and pronounced themselves pleased with it. 

    In Wiley Games, figures like this patriotic mech, can take damage (orange cubes) or shock (counter)

What's more, I had fun with it. I felt like tactics made sense. I felt the weapons differences led you to moving your troops a certain way on the tabletop. We each commanded three mechs each, and felt perhaps we should have started with two. It did take awhile to set up the game, though, so perhaps that was the reason we were slow out of the gate. The scenario Keith set up made sense but there was no way we could game it to conclusion in the time we had. No fault of his. I like that he came up with a scenario rather than just say it was a standard clash with two groups fighting each other.

    My Light Mech grabs some cover, hoping combined with its 'Nimble' trait would make it hard to hit

We plan on playing another game of BattleSuit Alpha soon. Originally, it was going to be the very next Sunday. However, noticing that it was the day before Halloween, I suggested we resurrect Reign in Hell for a Halloween themed game. So, demons and cabals are on the table next time! It has been a LONG time since we did this. It'll be a one-off game, not another chapter of our aborted attempt at a campaign. So, keep an eye on this space for another descent into some Hellish miniature gaming!

    An overview of the battlefield as the Attackers (bottom) advance on the Defending Mechs

    A force of three Mechs heads towards the cover in hopes of getting shots at the enemy

    I really like the idea of custom decks for this game -- special rules for types of cards printed on them make for a great reminder (especially for newer players)