Alpha Strike simplifies Battletech in order to cram more models on the tabletop. It even has its own new scale (cue groaning from Battletech fans who have already undergone several scale changes) which is half the size of the traditional mechs. Since it is half the price ($5ea vs $10ea) but only uses 1/8th the volume of the metal, that's good business sense right there. The same pewter is worth 400% more.
However - and this is a big plus - mecha are roughly 1:285 scale which mean they should fit perfectly with any 6mm sci fi you might already have - like those from GZG/Brigade etc. This is a major, major selling point for me as infantry and auxiliary vehicles are not available yet anyway. It deviates from the usual Battletech hex grid and jumps firmly aboard the tabletop gaming wagon.
EDIT: Comparison pics suggest they look more like 1:700. They are half the height of regular minis, so maybe the regular size is 1:285? (I got rid of my BT minis but they were older ones so my scales might be out of whack?)
The super detailed mecha profiles from traditional Battletech (I think the latest iteration is called "Total War") are replaced by a fairly simple unit card.
Size
Move (in inches)
Skill (this is pilot skill and shows the "to hit number")
Damage (the damage in each range bracket - short, medium and long - depends on the weapons fit)
Overheat (this is how much extra damage a mech can do, in exchange for heat)
Armour (armour hitpoints total - there are no individual hit locations)
Structure (internal hitpoints - again, there are no individual hit locations)
Heat Scale (this only has 4 levels - 1,2,3, and Shutdown)
Special Abilities
Gameplay & Rules
Activation is done alternately, like traditional BT. Mecha can move or jump. Movement has typical modifiers for smooth or difficult terrain. Attacks and movement can be made underwater, in snow and ice, hazardous acid pools and industrial zones, jungle, magma, and mud. There are advanced rules to leap, sprint, climb and evade attacks. There are advanced environmental rules for wind (even tornadoes), earthquakes, gravity, darkness, and atmospheres ranked from very thick to vacuum.
They can fire at any enemies within their arc. They check range and roll to hit. Ranges are short (0-6") medium (6-24") and long (24-42"). The "to hit" number is the pilots' skill - so if the firer's Skill level is 4 he needs a 4 or better on 2d6. However there is likely to be modifiers for target speed, cover etc. Purists will be pleased you can still perform charge and death-from-above (jumping) attacks.
If damage from an attack goes into structure, a critical hit is rolled for. Criticals are much simpler than original BT as they are for the entire mech rather than individual components such as arms, legs or torso. Hits to the rear add +1 damage.
Players can choose to "overheat" their mech before they attack, exchanging extra damage for heat. Each extra damage adds one heat. Heat levels remain the same - heat can only be reduced by not firing or standing in water. Units which use so much heat they "shutdown" cannot do anything for a full turn, after which their heat resets to 0.
Units can have "special abilities" such as CASE (can ignore ammo critical hits) or melee weapons (adds +1 damage to melee attacks), anti-missile systems (-1 to damage from attacks including missiles), HEAT (weapon applies heat to target as well as damage).
Aerospace rules are abstracted and movement occurs in four "zones" in a separate aerospace map. Aerospace craft can interact with ground targets, strafing and bombing them with a range of attack types. However there are also "concrete" rules to allow aerospace units to land and liftoff on the tabletop during missions. Troops can also be dropped from high or low altitudes.
There are rules for on and off-board artillery, as well as a range of artillery, bombs and autocannon rounds such as flak and tracer shells, NARC and TAG pods. There are also capital-class weapons that can be used at airborne and orbital targets. ECM can be used to create a "bubble" to defeat enemy probes and command networks. Mines can be used to ambush enemy troops.
Battlefield intelligence allows hidden deployment, intitative bonuses and pre-plotted artillery. There are building rules allowing them to be sued as cover - or reduced to rubble. I particularly like the use of "blip" counters - units can be represented by blips until they are in line-of-sight and visual range. There are extra rules for fire and smoke - weapon attacks can start fires which damage and heat up mechs, and smoke interferes with weapon fire. You can even field mega-size units like dropships on the battlefield.
As you can see, the rules are very comprehensive - they cover around ~100 pages.
Battletech mech design has always been very "hit-and-miss." For every good mech, there are some who look just plain uninspired. Meet "Slenderman."
Campaign System Players are either attacker or defender and their is a flowchart campaign, with who wins determining the next mission. Each mission (there are 6) shows the % of your total force you can use and amount relative to opponent. Players have a "Warchest"which acts like XP or influence in other games - you use it to measure victories and buy new toys. Re-arm, repair and (yay) salvage are all included.
Fluff & Unit Cards
A considerable amount of page space is devoted to fluff (as expected with Battletech); with plenty of unit profiles and quick reference pages and charts making up the remainder of the rules.
TL:DR
An attempt to speed up and simplify BT to allow large forces on the table, for me, the best thing that came out of this was the 1:285 scale change which means it is compatible with many other sci fi lines. On the other hand, the mech range is rather limited (about ~30 compared to the 100s from the usual catalogue) and to be honest, most mech designs from BT are rather crap, to be frank.
The rules themselves get rid off much of the book keeping that bogs down Battletech, but also remove all of its charm. I want to blow off arms or legs in a mech game, dammit! Weapons types are so abstract as to be meaningless. Battletech Alpha does achieve its goal - to allow us to use more models on the table - but could have been so much more. It's still got too much record keeping to be a good mass battle game, and it has lost the classic Battletech gameplay depth. If only they had more adventurous designers - who were willing to tear up the old mechanics. At the very least, it would have been much more sensible to convert from a existing mass battle ruleset rather than trying to turn skirmish rules (meant for 4 mechs a side) into a strategic-level wargame. However Battletech is a game all about tradition, with a very loyal, established fanbase, so I can see why they went the route they did.
Recommended: Not really. It is very comprehensive, and I admit it does its job - allows you to push more mechs around the table. It speeds things up, but loses its soul. More boldness in games design could have made this idea work, with more gameplay depth and a true "Battletech" feel. As it is, it removes much record keeping, but also all the worthwhile features that would make me want to play it.
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