Battletech Alpha Strike Counters Pack Review

 

The fantastic releases from Catalyst Game Labs continue. I realize this product has been on the market for a while, but I'd still like to give y'all my review of it.

The Battletech Alpha Strike Counters Pack is released by Catalyst Game Labs with an MSRP of $24.99

The set includes:

• 3 Heavy-stock reference cards of the most commonly used game talbes
• 6 punchboards, including additional movement markers and trees from the Alpha Strike box, as well as all-new terrain such as reivers and roads, large game templates, and more.
• A second complete set of the fifteen fold-up cardboard buildings from the Alpha Strike box

 

The Good:

• For me, the quick-reference cards have a lot more information displayed compared to the cards that came with the Alpha Strike boxed set. They include tables and references to the Alpha Strike Commander's Edition rulebook. This means you have the critical hit tables for 'Mechs, infantry, and vehicles.
• More buildings and trees. Not everyone has a large collection of terrain to use for Alpha Strike. Not everyone has the real estate to store terrain. The buildings are the same that came with the Alpha Strike boxed set, so if you have both this pack and the boxed set, you have doubled your buildings for a more urban environment.
• More terrain. These are flat templates, but you have hills, roads, and water that can be put down to add additional terrain features and obstacles to your board. Several of the pieces are double sided to help build a cohesive battlefield. 
• More tokens. The tokens are nice to show who has moved, what their TMM is, not to mention if they are a part of a C3 lance, the elevation of Aerospace assets, and whether the unit is Hull Down or not. There are additional objective markers for missions.

The Bad:

• Not really bad, but this really is only for Alpha Strike players. This has a lot of neat buildings, tokens, and templates, but if you play primarily Classic Battletech this won't be for you.
• The buildings are nice, but can be a bit flimsy. Just as with the Alpha Strike boxed set, the buildings go up quickly and will support the weight of plastic 'Mech, but if you put an Iron Wind Metal's Mech on top, the building might collapse. They are also light, which means a slight table bump could shift things around.
• A lot of the tokens included possibly won't be used. Let's face it, not everyone plays with C3, so these tokens either will never be punched, or they'll sit with the rest of the tokens, only seeing the light of day when you are sifting through them for movement tokens. 

Who is the Battletech Alpha Strike Counters Pack for?

This is for anyone playing Alpha Strike that does not have a lot of terrain, or is looking for terrain that is more portable than 3D printed or hand-crafted terrain. The trees can be broken down and easily transported. This is also for players who don't have a lot of additional dice to help manage movement and other conditions on the battlefield. The cheat-sheets are also excellent, especially since it will help from having to search for a table or reference in the Commander's Edition book. Sure, there are also some things that might never be used, but the rest such as the tables, buildings, templates, and tokens will probably see regular use.

Final thoughts. 

The Battletech Alpha Strike Counters Pack is a great addition to the game, though not a requirement. It adds some more flavor and visual interest to the battlefield, but it's not for everyone. If you already have a ton of terrain or play at a FLGS that has it, the buildings and terrain templates probably won't be needed. If you have the Alpha Strike box, you also already get a lot of usable tokens. If you play Alpha Strike regularly, and are looking to spice up your games, the Counters Pack is something you should certainly look at.

What are your thoughts on the Battletech Alpha Strike Counters Pack? Let me know in the comments.