by Stargazer1x
HeinzMcDurgen wrote:
I'm hosting a BattleTech game Sunday. There are going to be between 6-10 people playing, only two of us have any real experience, and a third has played once.
I'm planning on doing two evenly divided teams, which one of the experienced players on each team. I'm unsure if I should balance the teams by BV or tonnage. We'll be playing with the introductory rules.
Does anyone have any ideas of how to go about building the teams? I was thinking of having 4-6 preset teams and letting the team select one of those, then each team member can decide which 'mech they would like from one of those. Thoughts?
If we have 6 people, I was thinking around 150 tons per team - I've noticed that games get pretty long real quick with newer players in anything over 50 tons. Does anyone have any suggestions following this format?
Thanks!
I'm planning on doing two evenly divided teams, which one of the experienced players on each team. I'm unsure if I should balance the teams by BV or tonnage. We'll be playing with the introductory rules.
Does anyone have any ideas of how to go about building the teams? I was thinking of having 4-6 preset teams and letting the team select one of those, then each team member can decide which 'mech they would like from one of those. Thoughts?
If we have 6 people, I was thinking around 150 tons per team - I've noticed that games get pretty long real quick with newer players in anything over 50 tons. Does anyone have any suggestions following this format?
Thanks!
I'm a little late to this discussion but here's my 2 cents. This is doable. I've done it before. I do not find the BV system all that reliable in balancing games. You're probably better off using tonnage. My method for balancing games is slightly more complicated, and you may have this already set up but you can use this method to give your teams a quick check. I balance games looking at armor, firepower, tonnage, and pilots. For tonnage, have each side within 10 tons of each other. For firepower, check to make sure each side has about the same amount of 20, 15, 10, & 8 point blocks. For armor, check to see if the total armor points of each side is about even. Also check if each side has the same amount of mechs which can take harsh punishment (ie the same amount of heavily armored mechs). Finally, for pilots, check that each side has about the same mix of 3/4, 4/4, & 4/5 pilots. I start with this and then adjust for the mission type and level of difficulty (I usually run an OpFor against a group and adjust the difficulty of the mission).
As said above, I would also suggest using 3025 era tech as it's just easier for newbies and less time consuming. Recommend using mostly light and medium mechs with a few heavies. I would also create a force that is slightly larger than the number of players. Let the veterans run the extra mechs. If a newbie gets shot out of his mech, then he can take over one of the extra mechs.
When it comes to teaching the newbies the modifiers, I suggest getting them in the habit of adding them together in the same order every turn: start with gunnery + movement + target movement + range (including minimum) + terrain + heat + damage (shoulder/arm actuator).
Have fun!