The BattleTech Alpha Strike Starter Box has just landed in my grubby mitts.

So why have I chose BattleTech Alpha Strike as my first miniatures game to get into?

The first reason is the cost of entry. Compared to other miniature games out there such as the 800lb gorilla Warhammer 40k, is the relatively low cost to get into it. The starter sets are amazingly affordable being around the £50 mark. The beginners set is £26. Then picking up lances (what BattleTech calls teams/warbands) is also relatively cheap too. The majority I’ve seen on Amazon are in the £26-£35 range. These lances are not just for the core rules but also have cards to allow them to be used with the Alpha Strike rules.

Alpha Strike is a streamlined version of the “classic” BattleTech rule set. This will be the main way that I play the game. But everything I have or get will be compatible with the core more advanced rules. Plus the BattleTech rules hardly change. So I can if I have the time step up to the classic rules without having to buy new models. Either use the rules from a starter set or buy the £36 core rule book. That’s a big saving. And I don’t have to worry about a new edition of the rules coming along and making all my models redundant. The core rules are apparently literally unchanged from its release in the 80’s! There might be additional rules. But the early rules are still present. That gives you a bit more faith in investing in the game.

I’ve never played BattleTech. But mechs duking it out does appeal to me. It has that Pacific Rim vibe. Or going back to my younger years Starfleet, or just about Power Rangers when we got to the final boss battle for the episode. It even gives me a Transformers vibe to some extent. And obviously some anime I watched in the late eighties such as Patlabor, and Ghost in the Shell comes to mind.

Another major deciding factor is none of this having to construct your minis. No cutting parts off sprews and gluing. Ok you are meant to paint you models. But I’m not going to be entering competitions and will eventually get round to painting them.

This means BattleTech passes my board game test. You can buy a starter set (or lance) in a shop, open it up, and be playing/learning the game in under 20 minutes. None of this having to spend hours constructing minis be for you can even start playing. This for me removes such a big barrier to entry and helps noobs like me get into the game.

I just need to get it to the table now. Which will mean finding some-one to play with.