IMPORTANT House Rule - True Initiative

A common problem with Battletech initiative rules is that victory favors the bold... but usually it's whoever gets better initiative rolls. More specifically, there is no "cost/benefit analysis" to winning initiative rolls.

An example:

Player A rolls 6. Player B rolls 8. Therefore, Player A must move first and then Player B may react to Player A's move. Attacks are resolved simultaneously, but if Player B can move behind Player A this turn, there is literally nothing Player A can do about it.

Simply put, the better you roll, the better position you have to exploit your opponent's mistakes. This puts more emphasis on "luck" than strategy, because ultimately, it's the dice roll that dictates action. It is very common for two equally skilled players to spend a lot of time dancing around as initiative changes hands before anyone commits to a fight. This can be boring and slows down combat significantly.

Unfortunately for Megamek, there is little that can be done to change this (limited options for alternate initiative rules), but in other formats such as standard tabletop and Alpha Strike, there is hope!

Introducing "True Initiative"!​

Rather than initiative roll forcing player action, what if choice was given to the winning roll:

You win the initiative roll. You are given two choices:

1. Move first AND attack first BEFORE your opponent.
2. Move second AND attack second AFTER your opponent.

Now most people would argue that moving and attacking first is ideal because you could deal damage before your opponent can respond. Yes, this is true, but there is a real cost to doing so. If you do not land the killing blow, you have now left yourself wide open to counterattack.

True Initiative introduces the concept of "balancing aggression with counter-action". Some times it pays to be aggressive if you can kill your target quickly, but sometimes it pays to wait for your opponent to make a move first. Unlike traditional initiative rules. True Initiative rewards both tactics in equal measure.

It is FASTER!​

True Initiative also has the benefit of speeding up gameplay by lumping a player's turn all into one set of actions. You move and then attack. Then your opponent moves and attacks. This allows for more efficient use of time than seperate move and attack phases (especially when players need to leave the table). Everything for a unit is resolved at once rather than broken up into additional phases.

It scales well just like standard.​

But what if you are doing 4 v 4 mechs? What then? Well, just like standard rules, you can split it up as needed. You can do team initiative rolls (1 roll for each team) or you can do individual initiative rolls (1 roll for each unit). It works very similar!

Example (rolls are arbitray to keep it simple)

Player A = rolls 6 (if doing team initiative rolls)
Mech 1 = 4
Mech 2 = 6
Mech 3 = 8
Mech 4 = 10

Player B = 8 (if doing team initiative rolls)
Mech 1 = 5
Mech 2 = 7
Mech 3 = 9
Mech 4 = 11

If doing standard rotation team initiatives, Player B (rolled 8) would have the option to move/shoot one mech first, or force Player A to go first. Moves would then rotate.

If doing Individual initiatives, things are a little different, but can still be managed. Start with the highest roll; Player B's #4. They gain initiative over all others. They may defer that move until after the next unit in line (Player A's #4), or may take it immediately. If not deferred, the choice then goes to Player A's #4. Then Player B's #3. Then A's #3. And so on until everyone has moved. If everyone defers until it gets to Player A's #1 (the worst roll), the worst roll MUST move. Then the order starts from the top again and works down.

If you are following how this works, you may recognize it works very similarly to how initiative works in Battletech made for PC by Hairbrained Schemes, except rather than initiative being tied to weight class, it is based on the initiative rolls of the team or inidividual unit. The general concept remains the same: better rolls may act immediately or defer their move until after the next in line.

The end result is a more nuanced take on initiative resolution that allows for greater tactical flexibility.