One of the major problems with any rules changes or additions or rewrites is the sometimes drastic and violent effects it can have on the game and pieces in it (see also Bart Bradshaw and Infiltrate). Another problem is the inability to go back and 'edit' existing pieces to make sense under the new paradigm.

Since I feel that mechs are teh c00l and need some love, I came up with something resembling an idea, though it's not fleshed out to the point where it can be played (i.e. not balanced).

Each mech would have a sheet, placed to the side. This sheet would hold 'mods' applied to the mech in question. These mods would be SEs or other interesting abilities, such as 'extra order' or 'improved aim' or 'internal repair'. Each mod would cost a certain number of points.

As an example, you could take Caden Senn and pay extra points to add SU Agility. Or increased damage for one attack. Or maybe cooling. Each time you used the mod, it would be discarded/crossed off.

This would allow for some improvement of 'old' mechs, improvement of pathetic mechs (SC Crimson Hawk...) and allow for customization of a battle force by giving your mechs similar SEs.

I like the idea. Single use SE cards could sure spoil your day ( AP, Brawling). But you could also spoil your opponents day ( Agility, Decoy). It would definitely be interesting.

My son had thsi idea too. I liked it, but never really took the time to flesh it out. Let's see what others think.

And now for some pornography...(posted below)

Something that immediately springs to my mind...


"Well, I could add these +1 attack, +1 damage, and +agility cards to my HL Uller... or I could give Arnis Drummond +1 attack, +1 damage, +brawling."

... and nothing will have changed, except the "+agility" card will be worth $30 on ebay each while the "+ECM" card will be used as a bookmark.

Well, I think the original poster didn't intend for these to be collectable cards or something. Maybe wizkids just prints out a few universal optional equipment sheets.

I had a similar idea a while ago. Make a bunch of small forms like so:

example

Single Use Anti-Personel
Pt Cost: 30 X [number of targets] = _____
Unit Number: ______
Set: _____________
ID: ______________

Single Use Armor Piercing
Pt Cost: 20
Unit Number: ______
Set: _____________
ID: ______________

say, have them only usable if you are in you green starting position or something. That way you can't get some strong SE all the way at the bottom of the dial. Of course, your opponent would be able to see the the sheet as well, to tally your points at the beginning of the battle and make sure everything was correctly added up.

Doesn't this defeat the whole have the stats on the figure click system?

yeah, but hey, I loved CBT :)

Personally, I'd rather see the Mage Knight relic and dungeon cards systems come into play with MechWarrior if you're going to do something of that sort.

First off, no, not collectible. At all. I wasn't even thinking cards to start with (though, interestingly, check the Crimson Skies cards WizKids are putting out: it's almost the exact same idea...)

Another idea that came to mind was having 'used' tokens count for VC 1 or maybe 2. If you can force your opponent to blow his good stuff, you should get the points for it.

As for the UBER Arnis idea (which is certainly possible), the point isn't as much to make uber units more uber, but to allow a counter. Arnis, as he stands, would have less bonus from the basic ideas than most. I don't think there would be an 'extra range' token/card (though it's possible) but having a whole constellation of mechs with the possibility of Agility would make Arnis, no matter how pumped, less uber. Sure, you can dump extra attack and extra damage onto Arnis, but if he doesn't charge, he isn't as scary. Good, yes, but not terrifying. That's the basic idea at least.

The devil, on the other hand, is always in the details.

At first glance this might be an interesting idea. Then one has to realize. Picture: You plop down your army. Your opponent plops down his with his Arnis that has a +2 defense card on him. If you can do multiple cards then he plops down his Decoy card as well. Oh goodie. So now you have to hit a 24 ... twice ... in order to peg arnis. No thanks.

Well, not really. Again, no cards. Sheet. Tokens. #### obvious going into the battle what any particular mech has packing. It's not hidden, same as any other SE on a mech. So you know from the start if Arnis has a Decoy sitting around.

Secondly, it's _all_ SU SEs. He gets Decoy once. If he bought lots of Decoy tokens, great, bully for him. Each time you make him use one, you score. It may not be enough, but hey, that's life.

LOL. Sounds like your money problem is because you buy too dang much MWDA! In my group (admitedly small) I'm considered a relative "mogul" because I have 4 tackleboxes full of DF and SS (9k pts each) incl 20 uniques & 20 LEs. I've never bought a case, and only about 25 boosters. The rest is from buying faction "lots" on ebay or shrewd trading. Buying just 2 cases would be more money than I've put into MWDA...

If we're gonna do any sorta 'cards' I'd much rather see MW Domain cards and Terrain cards (a la MK2.0). Domain card: Mudflats = Mechs cannot run during the course of the game. Now things like THAT could make the games more interesting. Terrain cards could be like: Small Pillbox (a 1 card terrain piece). Can house (1? 2?) infantry units. Rules for loading/unloading would be similar to APCs except of course the terrain can't move. They could have a fortification value to show how much damage they can take before being destroyed and could give bonuses to the units inside (+1 attack perhaps) ... as well as shielding them from damage. Those two ideas could introduce a whole range of possibilities/variables in to the game.

Ability cards would actually be very cool. They SHOULD be overcosted, as they allow units to preform non standard SE's (for their sculpt).

Yes, your opponent could pay 30pts for an SU SE Decoy card for Arnis. But when he used it, you would get the 30 VC points!

I also like the idea of adding lots of new terrain. Including TopGun's idea re: Mudflats & Pilboxes.

Actually, A Pillbox should be a unit. Like a 0 movement towed unit, but without the "towed". On a Mech base so it can't be transported, 2 capacity, move: 10 SU INF, Def: 23hd, about 7 clicks of life, primary or secondary weapons could mean mounted weapons platforms. Special rules allow infantry to fire out of it. If salvaged, infantry pop out. If destroyed, inf die.

I think I'll make one! =)