Skidding rules in BattleTech Alpha Strike
I know it all too well myself – you want to use the road with your fast mech or tank to get into the enemy’s flank at lightning speed, and suddenly you lose control. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you (or at least that you know why it happened), I’ll explain how sliding works in detail here.
When do I have to dice?
There is always a risk of slipping if you want to achieve high speeds on slippery surfaces. I must make a check roll if my unit (mechs, proto-mechs or tracked/wheeled vehicles) performs one of the following actions:
- Sprinting on roads or pavement: If you use the speed bonus on paved surfaces, you risk losing traction.
- Movement on ice: This is particularly dangerous. A throw is due if I sprint on ice, end my jump movement on ice or simply move more than half my normal distance (MV) on ice.
Important: Units that jump this turn (except when landing on ice) do not have to dice on slides.
The control roll
As soon as I have moved one inch in the desired direction, I must discard the roll. I take the skill value of my unit as the base target number and add the target movement modifier (TMM) shown on my card.
However, I have learned that some units are more stable than others:
- Quadrupeds (Quads): Receive a -2 bonus to the roll.
- Tripods: Receive a bonus of -1.
If the throw is successful, I continue as normal. If it fails, the skating begins!
What happens when you slide?
If I fail the roll, my unit slides half of its movement value (MV) in a random direction (rounded up).
To determine the direction, I use the 2-inch template for area effect. I roll a d6 and align the template so that the digits 3 or 4 point in my original line of vision. The unit then moves in the direction I rolled and ends its movement phase there.
Damage and collisions
Sliding is not harmless fun. My unit automatically takes 1 point of damage for every 4 inches it has slid (rounded down). But it often gets worse:
- Terrain obstacles: If I crash into a building, cliff or water, the unit stops immediately and suffers collision damage equal to its own size value.
- Collision with units: If I ram another unit, I must make a roll as for a ramming attack (Charge), but with a penalty of +2 due to involuntariness.
- If successful, the target suffers damage (size + half the TMM of the sliding unit).
- My own unit also suffers damage equal to its size value.
- Vehicles must also dice on the Motive Systems Damage table.
- Special case infantry: If I slide into infantry, these poor souls take damage equal to my size value, but I simply slide through them without taking any damage myself.
My tactical conclusion
I only use roads for sprinting if I either have a very good skill value or there is enough space around me. A Locust that breaks out at full speed on a city street is often only stopped by the nearest house wall – and that rarely ends well for the mech.
Take care of your flanks and keep your feet on the ground!
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Ich bin Sören Spieckermann, der Kopf hinter mechstrategen. Seit Jahren faszinieren mich taktische Tabletop-Schlachten und die strategische Tiefe von Mechs. Ob schnelle Gefechte in Halo: Flashpoint oder epische Schlachten bei BattleTech Alpha Strike – hier teile ich meine Erfahrungen und Taktiken mit dir. Mein Ziel? Sowohl Einsteigern den Start zu erleichtern als auch alten Hasen neue Impulse für das nächste Match zu geben.
