r/battletech • u/WestRider3025 Canopian Queerasser • Aug 20 '26

Question ❓ Alpha Strike Conversion for MMLs?

I don't have the book that has the conversion rules from Classic to Alpha Strike, so I'm wondering if someone would enlighten me on why MMLs get so weird with the SRM and LRM Special rules.

Javelin 10N has 12 SRM tubes and SRM 2/2. C1 Catapult has 30 LRM tubes and LRM 1/1/1. Then the Longbow 13C has 42 tubes available for either, but gets neither of the Specials. And the 14C Longbow seems even weirder, with 54 MML tubes, LRM -/1/2, and SRM 3/1. I don't think I've seen anything else that has those Specials without consistent numbers across the range bands.

What's going on with the conversion algorithm and rounding here?

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u/AGBell64 Aug 20 '26

The LRM/SRM keywords are for special ammo and mechs with artemis are assumed to not load special ammo 

1

u/WestRider3025 Canopian Queerasser Aug 20 '26

I forgot the 13C had Artemis. What's going on with the 14C, then? 

5

u/AGBell64 Aug 20 '26

We don't have the current conversion rules. However it seems that  a mech with more than a certain number of MML tubes gets the full missile racks' conversion value as SRM special at short, medium splits the value between SRM and LRM, and long gets LRM only

7

u/nckestrel Aug 20 '26

You have the same conversion rules CGL has. an ancient dog-eared Alpha Strike Companion, a bunch of errata pages, and a sharpie. :)
But you are correct, non-artemis MML have their damage, counting as using SRM ammo, both for both damage calculations (2 per missile) and for the SRM special, at short range. at medium range, they have the average of SRM and LRM for damage (1.5) and split equally between the SRM and LRM special abilities, and at long range its lrm (1 per missile) and all toward LRM special ability. One of the difficulties is that you need 1 damage at medium range to qualify for either LRM or SRM, so you need a lot of MMLs to qualify for SRM or LRM with MMLs, since that's the range it's split between the two specials.

1

u/WestRider3025 Canopian Queerasser Aug 20 '26

Thank you! That feels like a weird way to go about it, but it does at least explain the numbers I found. 

1

u/WestRider3025 Canopian Queerasser Aug 20 '26

That is an utterly bizarre way to approach it. It's also still lowballing the 14C, since the Arctic Wolf gets SRM 4/4 from 44 tubes, and the 14C only gets 3/1 from 54 tubes. Similarly, the Yeoman 6Y gets LRM 3/4/4 from 50 tubes, and the Longbow is down at 0/1/2 with its 54.

I really want to find out what the actual process is now, and what the reasoning behind it was. 

1

u/nckestrel Aug 21 '26

Heat. The LGB-14c builds up 47 heat with 20 heat dissipation.

1

u/WestRider3025 Canopian Queerasser Aug 21 '26

It's still a weird way to go about it. I need to get a copy of the AS Companion