Well read the thread, and I have to agree with the majority of player that only vehicles get a token. Vehicles with "Towed" in their name and Foot mode Inf should be able to unload without token. ;)

Brass TACs

I've played with towed autocannon drop a little and while I found it amusing, it is order expensive. While I am for them getting a token, I doubt letting them drop w/o a token is going to matter that much. On the other hand, full sized towed arty needs that token. Take the ROTS towed field arty. A good piece under the current rules. Load it into a Zhan and it becomes nasty. Double that combo and death rains on your opponent every turn.

Looks like solving one problem may create another...

So...if you give vehicles an action token for disembarking, then everyone will just use SW or other pieces that get stronger when pushed.

I dunno...I would vote to keep it the way it is.

I think giving the unit a Tolker is not quite right. My idea is, Only apply's to Vehicles. and they act like they have 2 order tolkens on them(Pushed) and cannot be used till next turn. That nerfs tankdrop and still makes transports good.

How about instead of giving disembarking units tokens...
Make a rule that states an unloaded unit cannot be given an order the same turn it is unloaded from the transport. This way they can be given an order on the next turn INSTEAD of taking pushing damage or waiting to clear. It solve the Tank Drop Cheese move without ruining the intent of the transport.

Let's review, Transports are for getting units into the fight faster than they could do so on their own. That's it folks. They were never meant to be used as a longrange strike weapon.

I take the 5th, on the grounds that my reply would only result in
the accrual of more warning points. :cheeky:

That said, I don't feel this would really solve the problem. I agree
with those who feel that vehicles deployed from transports should
not be able to fire on the same turn they deploy - only move.

For the record, I've beaten tank drop every time I've faced it. That
doesn't mean that the current transport rules that allow tank
drop don't need to be redefined. ;)

I have said great but IMO it should apply only to vehicles. Infantry are fine and if they were to have a token on disembarking it severely restricts their utility.

Unlike vehicles, infantry disembarking from a transport would realistically be able to operate immediately. Vehicles, on the other hand, would be vulnerable whilst they unhitched.

Having a 20-ton or 30-ton unit pulling an undamaged 100-ton tank at full speed into a combat situation with no real penalty is quite ridiculous IMO.

The issue at question here is first strike, so here is a shortened primer on it.

This game is based on the premise that those who strike first generally carry the battle. Your opponent is weakend and cannot respond as effectively. The game uses turns to make it more difficult to position yourself in range to make a first attack without exposing yourself to a first strike from your opponenet.

All of the main issues we have EVER discussed on these boards (VTOLS, artillery, tank drop, and charging) are special cases that essentailly allow a player to strike from beyond weapons range and do damage. This throws the central game concept of move-to-fire then be-exposed-to-counterfire out of balanace.

So the question is, does this proposal return "tank drop" back in line with then central game concepts without completely disabling it?

My response is that it is not an effective solution. That is because it is not explicit enough. There are too many interpretaions:

A) Does "given an order token" mean that is consumes one of the orders a player is given that round (thus disembarking units consumes 2 orders- one to the transport, and one to the units)? If so, then this is too order intensive to be useful.

B) If it does not consume 2 orders, but 1 order, than is that not a violation of the concept of formations when the units inside the transport are a different faction than the transport itself?

C) Does "gain an order token" prevent that unit from acting in that turn, or does it merely require a 'push'? If the former, than that may be too stiff a penalty, and will essentailly remove the usefulness of transports. If the latter, than it does nothing to prevent first strike.

D) The current rules make no provision for WHAT a transport can carry, other than by capacity. Making a rule for disembarkation that differs by type of unit may overly complicate the game.

Because of all of the above, I do not think this is a proper way to go.

Yes unload tokens for vech. only.

I would agree that only Vehicles should recieve this. Infantry should be able to disembark firing in my opinion.

I kinda wish that it weren't possible to transport vehicles at all. I mean, in 20-plus years of reading mechwarrior novels, I can't recall an example where disembarking an assault tank from a hover transport under combat conditions ever made a critical difference to the outcome of the story. Shoot, I can't even remember it Happening To Begin With.

I can see how transporting vehicles makes for creative gameplay options, don't get me wrong. I'm just concerned with how true-to-life the concept is. I've never been in the real army -- have any of you military veterans out there ever heard of one vehicle transporting another? Sure, where the passenger is a slow bulky construction/minesweeping vehicle, or where the transport is intended to move the bulky vehicle around as cargo at interstate-highway speeds, or where the transport is a bridging unit of some sort. (I'd bet that it takes more than just a coupla seconds to make these passengers combat-ready upon disembarking!)

It is only for this reason that I wish I could vote to eliminate vehicle-drop altogether. In the meantime, color me "undecided".

I like TermanBear's solution. I also had another idea we have yet to test...

*No transport may carry a vehicle over twice the point cost of the transport's cost. Exception: VTOLs such as the Garrot Superheavy may carry any vehicle.

This would prevent BFT's (Big Freakin' Tanks) from being carried in transports 1/4th their size. This way most tanks would deploy like most tanks do in a battle, they roll in leading the charge (not hiding in a glorified RV) *grin*.

just a

I said yes but here's how I see it working

***Infantry can disembark and preform an action. No infantry unit may become part of a COMBAT formation for the remainder of the turn in which they disembarked

***Vehicles may not preform any actions for the remainder of the turn in which they disembarked

(no one would receive an action except the transport for unloading 'em)

I voted for it. I think its a good idea. however, I am more inclined to only say Vehicles get an order token, rather then infantry.

Still, I like the rule, and would rather have it effect both then not have the rule at all.

The British had a Hovercraft that carried 60 cars accross the british channel at 83 knots. I believe a military model was made also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountba...ass_hovercraft