An idea, the "Headcapper" Special Ability

[CJKeys]

So something that my group was discussing was how headcap weapons make certain light and medium Mechs a big threat on the battlefield and how this isn't reflected in Alpha Strike. we thought it might be interesting if there were a special ability called HeadCapper. On Heavies and assaults it wouldnt do much, but on lights and mediums it would make them a more viable threat.

the way it would work would be:
In Conversion, if a unit has a weapon which can do 12 or more points of damage in a single shot, it gains the HC#/#/# ability for whatever range bands that weapon is effective in Alpha Strike.

Alpha Strike rules would be:

HEADCAPPER: This Unit has at least 1 single weapon which may be capable of destroying the head of an enemy mech in a single shot. This is reflected with the HC#/#/# symbol, Each range band would have a -, S, M, or L reflecting the ranges which is can use this ability.

If a Unit has the HC#/#/# ability when it hits with a weapons attack, roll 2d6. On a 12 the 'Mech hit by the attack is considered destroyed. This ability only affects enemy units of the BM type and has no effect on any other unit types.

What do y'all think?

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I've thought almost the exact same thing.  And also another, similar "Infantry Killer" special based on machine guns/AP gauss.  But the thing is you're trading elegance/simplicity for more granularity... which is ultimately going against AS's strength.

[CJKeys]

given all the special rules in Alpha Strike I dont know if something like this would be going too granular

[Fear Factory]

Maybe if it worked differently.

I would say, the unit gets an "HC" symbol, but if they roll a 12 on their to-hit roll they get to roll for a critical hit.

This game could use some new quirks:

POOR JUMP JETS - When the unit jumps and makes a weapons attack it overheats 1. This quirk, despite being in the fluff for the Catapult in 3025, still doesn't exist in any form.

ANTI-INFANTRY- +1 bonus damage per weapon that causes extra damage to infantry. (Example: PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk gets MG2).

[Alsadius]

Add the "HC" special with a range(so a Gauss is HC-L, for example). If they roll a 12 on their to-hit roll while firing in that range band or closer, they do triple damage. It's not a strict kill, but it'll be close most of the time, and it's really simple to add.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I've thought a lot about it, and as I generally expressed upthread (before it was moved to Fan Rules) that adding more rolls is basically a slippery slope.  What is the role of AS: to represent CBT or to represent the in-universe "reality"?  Honestly, I can see an argument that headcapping (or TAC'ing out a gyro/engine with a single SRM or machine gun attack, for that matter) is an over-represented threat in CBT and AS "corrects" the plausibility of one-shot-kills on pristine mechs.

Anyway, I have thought of another way to incorporate the spirit of Headcapping in such a way that it doesn't add a new special: comparing damage received to size.  If the damage > SZ, it's a free crit even if armor remains.  Granted it makes "headcapping" bigger mechs harder than smaller, but otoh it's mixing the odd headcap in with all other "hole punching" (and to a degree, TAC) phenomenae into one elegant rule.