There is currently a strategy I have seen in play where a player will play things like the bounty hunter (which take a very long time to kill and cost a lot of points) and will stall until late in the game. I have had players take as long as half an hour on a turn (rare). The problem with this is that we have recently seen a reduction in the amount of time in a match. it's very hard to prove someone is stalling, but a staller with big mechs can pretty much assure himself a win.

The only solution me and my friends have come up with is having the rules implement a "chess timer" and give each player 30 min - 45 min (depending on level of play) to take all of their turns. The addition of a timer prevents stallers, because they lose the game if they stall too much.

I'm interested in hearing thoughts and ideas on this.

I'd just say that a player has 5 minute per turn and if they take more than that they lose the rest of their turn. That way you get at least 10 turns in a 50 minute game and means stallers can't use all their orders.

i don't take half an hour but i do unintetionaly stall but it is because i have a learning disability and need to put everything in my mind.

Chess clock. Out of time, you lose.

fleabitfox

Timing requires a bit of something called sportsmanship...

Player A begins his 5 min turn. He shoots and damages a mech. The opponent takes a large amount of time slowly picking up the piece and clicking, then placing the miniature back down, forcing Player A to wait to do his next order or get accused of cheating...

This kinda thing is naff - the Chess clock idea is sound, but open to major abuse. This is as much an issue of playing in a spirit of co-operation as it is a matter of timing...

I'm for the chess clock.
I played a match once where my opponent and I could see the timer. He used his last order to push his mech and took a click of heat. just then I glanced at the timer it just ticked off from 2 min. to 1 min. I had planned out my next order, thinking how long can he roll his avoid rolls, well lets see heatsink overload *roll* failded, another click of heat. heatsink overload crit. *roll* made it.
ammo explosion *roll* made, shut down *roll* made, ok he started and ended in water click of cooling. yadda yadda. buzzzzz
time over. Had I gotten my next turn I would have won vc3 and the game.
@ white knight you are right a chess clock could be abused

It is really up to the player to report it to the battlemaster and the battlemaster to do something about it.

We had one guy come from out of town to play, before I was a BM, who took more than 15 minutes each turn. It was pathetic. I'm glad I never had to face him though, would have driven me nuts.

i dont see why anyone needs more than 2-3 mins per turn. at my venue i am used to about 30-45 seconds per turn. any time after 4 minuites is obviously a stall. i mean, even when i play ward_of_vipers (nice name by the way) he never takes more than 2-3 minuites himself. whoever is playing 10+ minuites is obviously stalling, get him booted from the turnament or banned from the venue if that keeps happening. it is blatent cheating and should be taken care off accordingly.

thanx h2doh

Chess clock. It really is that simple.

I've played agaionst big mechs MANY TIMES. Never try to kill them. Kill the other stuff in their army and stall until they need to advance in order to win.

i.e.: If you play against an army with a SC marauder, just kill enough to give you the lead(VC 1 & 2).

Artillery and ATVs also works well

I'm not sure how a 45 minute chess clock solves anything.

10 minutes into the game - I've spent 5 or fewer minutes of my time, my opponent has spent 5 or more minutes of his time. I have a marginal lead.

I move 1 piece. I sit down and wait out the remaining 40 minutes.

I win.

Chess clocks work because chess is not otherwise timed. You have X number of minutes to beat your opponent or lose.

Mechwarrior is timed. If I am ahead of my opponent and have enough minutes left to wait out the clock, I win.

Chess also does not require the opponent to do anything to complete your turn. You don't have to ask him if decoy is on with his king, or what the defense of his unit is so you can tell if your attack hit.

I think the idea is that you get 26 min on your clock, he gets 26 on his. When either one of you runs out, the game's over, that person loses. That way, the most you could burn off in your example is 21 minutes, which would give your opponent a win. Unless I don't understand how chess clocks actually work, which is entirely possible.

-Narfolin

The complaint I imagine if chess clocks were implemented - my opponent is wasting my time!

Fast units with decoy. Make your opponent roll for every one. Keep your units moving (moving a unit will take less time than attacking). Don't fire a shot, but make sure your opponent runs out of time on their clock before time's up - and win!