According to the rule book:
"Close combat represents hand-to-hand fighting. Any infantry or ’Mech can make a close combat attack; vehicles cannot.
(...)
Close combat damage. When one of your infantry succeeds at a close combat attack, look at its damage value. This is the amount of damage dealt to the target. Your opponent must click the target’s combat dial clockwise a number of times equal to the damage dealt. When one of your ’Mechs succeeds at a close combat attack, it deals damage to the target equal to its primary damage value."
So, if I take an ICE mech with two damage values, such as the Mining Mech or Construction mech, I can use the primary damage value (3 for each) or choose to use the secondary special equipment (SE), which is "Hand to Hand" (H2H) for each. The H2H SE says that I can roll a die as use that result for damage instead of the printed value. So, you risk rolling a 1 or 2 and doing less than 3 damage, rolling a 3 and doing the same damage as you normally would have in return for the random chance of maybe dealing 4, 5, or 6 damage. That is pretty nice.
Well, i would liek to know what the point is of the BRAWLING SE? Am I missing something? It says that you may add +1 to the damage value when you make a close combat attack. However when I look up (and at) the various mechs from MW Dark Age and its expansions, i notice only one mech (that I can find) has brawling as a secondary SE. If it is the primary SE, like with the
Swordsworn Mjolnir, then what is the point? It has a base damage value of 2, which you can only use on close combat, and when you use it, you add +1 to that damage for a total of 3. they could have just printed a 3 instead of a 2 + Brawling and it wouldn't have made a difference.
The
Banson's Raiders Legionnaire is the only mech I can find with this special equipment where it "matters." The Legionnaire has a primary damage value of 4 from its Auto Cannon, which can be used from 3-12 inches away. Then, if it gets into base contact with an opposing unit, it can make a close combat attack. It will use its primary damage value of 4 and gain an additional +1 for a total of 5 in close combat. Wizkids obviously didn't want this mech to deal 5 damage at range, but if it gets up close and personal, then it can really dish out the damage thanks to the Brawling SE. This is the only time see it "matter."
Oh well. this isn't the only time I saw strange and questionable design decisions. I just wanted to ask in case I was overlooking something.
