Feedback - Special Pilot Abilities

[Xotl]

Hi all.  I'm interested in hearing about people's experiences using SPAs - Special Pilot Abilities.

1) Are there some that you feel are broken?
2) Are there some that you feel are hopeless?
3) Are there some that you feel would be useful if they were tweaked just a touch (up in power or down, less complex, etc)?

Sound off.

[Aresneo]

Most SPAs seem to work as intended, and as long as both players have the same number of points there aren't too many with issues.
Antagonizer and Demoralizer are really convoluted and slow down the game for an effect that is often not worthwhile. Of all the SPAs they are probably the two that add the least to the game and deserve being removed, or at least left in A Time of War were they make more sense.
Iron Will is extremely situational, it's an okay pick to fill out your point total after getting what you want if your opponent took Antagonizes or Demoralizer, but it's never a really good choice. Like the two SPAs it's intended to counter it's not really worth keeping outside of the RPG.
Dodge is currently horribly worded, there is no need to include the wording about comparing the Margin of Success on the piloting rolls. A better wording would be something like: "The first time this unit is declared the target of a physical attack each turn immediately make a piloting skill roll, if you succeed on that piloting roll add the margin of success to the target number of physical attacks against this unit until the end of the turn." The end result is the same while being less confusing.
Eagle’s Eyes currently over costed when compared to other 1 and 2 point abilities, dropping it to 1 point would make it worth considering sometimes, as it stands the only time it should ever be used is as part of the benefits of the various Recon Lance types.
Environmental Specialist really could use a revision to the wording to make it clear how specific the environment you are choosing the specialize in is. Like Eagle’s Eyes its scenario dependent so it’s hard to judge how accurate the point cost is.
Forward Observer is probably under costed, its better then a lot of the weaker 2 point abilities.
Jumping Jack is massively under costed and would still be one of the best SPA choices at a cost of 4 points.
Sharpshooter should include wording to indicate how it interacts with the Marksman SPA, even if its just to say a unit cannot use both at the same time.
Speed Demon is terrible and really should only be 1 point, at which point it still isn’t good but is a situational choice for when you have 1 point left after choosing the abilities you actually want.
Tactical Genius feels a little over costed when compared to the better 2 point and 3 point abilities, currently it feels worth 2.5 points.
Terrain Master (Frogman) feels under powered when compared to the other Terrain Master choices, mostly because it requires the rarest type of terrain of them.
It would be nice to get Slow But Steady, Headhunter, Float Like A Butterfly, Inspiring Commander, and Judo published in the same place as the rest of the SPAs instead of scattered around the Ilclan books.
Also it would be nice to get clarification on how Lucky, Inspiring Commander, and Float Like a Butterfly interact. As Battletech does not have a default rule limiting how often a roll can be rerolled it would be nice to so something saying if two or more of those abilities can be applied to the same attack roll (strictly going by the current wording you always go with the second roll with these abilities meaning two or more being applied to the same attack doesn't change the result, but there are going to be people that argue the use of second roll in the wording of the ability is simply about having to use the results of the reroll and therefore you can use one of the abilities to counter the others.)

[Lawn Dart]

Agree with the utility of Jumping Jack - it's the most popular in our group by far because of its value.  It's certainly not fun facing multiple enemy mechs with Jumping Jack as they are continually jumping every turn.

[abou]

I agree with comments about Dodge -- confusing wording and maybe not all that useful depending on interpretation -- and Jumping Jack.

The only thing managing Jumping Jack in my current campaign is that it is set in 3025 and the player is using a Phoenix Hawk. Once you get access to double heat sinks...

[Eminog]

I have only played the SPA in classic games, so take my constructive criticism through that lens.  We were unable to balance them, we tried 3 games with them and found certain ones broken and too powerful, while others too weak.  On top of that, the wording of them was unclear so that there was confusion of just how powerful they were, but they generally reduced target to-hit numbers for pilots that already were the strongest pilots, making them just autohit.   

The most powerful ones were oblique attacker (can shoot without ever being shot at), Range Master (Long) combined with ATMs -4 to hit at almost any distance, weapon specialist (-2 to hit), jumping jack (-3 to hit).  Those ones are the first ones that come to mind.  Having the ridiculous ones cost more can't fix them: once they hit the table even if they cost 3 or 4 points, getting -2 to hit using a pilot that is already 2 gunnery, or getting a -3 to hit (in the case of jumping jack) was just so good that no combination of 1 and 2 spas could counter it. 

There were quite a few that were interesting and would be fun if not overshadowed by the broken ones.  These suffered from poor wording and poor rule clarification, but generally they were a bonus paired with a significant drawback, like the blood stalker.  If I were to create my own list, I would tone down the ones that give the most powerful change in to-hit number to just -1 to-hit and only in some circumstances.  Then I'd expand on the ones that are interesting piloting concepts (like the one that allows you to stand on one leg), adding in the ability to back up changing levels, and do other things that generally good pilots could do. 

Finally, we tried to work in the formation bonuses as well at some point but these overlapped too heavily with the pilot SPAs. I think the formation bonuses should be a separate list of abilities entirely. ones that come from being in formation and not ones that make the pilot better.

[Charistoph]

...jumping jack (-3 to hit).

-2, actually.  -1 in Alpha Strike.

A lot of this feedback that is being given will largely depend on how it is implemented, I think.

For example, Jumping Jack can be quite powerful when considered in an open environment that someone can get for effectively free, either as part of a Formation bonus or just playing with pilot cards.  However, when considered within the auspices of Campaign Operations, if a pilot needs to earn this ability through experience, and is the same cost as just improving a Pilot's Gunnery by 2 (unless there's a campaign rule limiting difference between Gunnery and Piloting), it's perfectly balanced within that context.

With that said, and with the caveat that I'm proceeding on the Campaign Operations method of purchasing these Abilities as I mentioned above, on with the review:

Forward Observer - Campaign Operations - Rating: OP but Situational
For the cost of improving Gunnery by 1, you can effectively improve your Artillery's Gunnery by 1, 2 if you shoot.  The only reason it is situational is that Artillery is not always available.  Alpha Strike is less situational because it works as a free non-shooting TAG for non-Homing IDF.  It's a good price for Classic, but too cheap for Alpha Strike.

Heavy Lifter - Campaign Operations - Rating: Almost useless
Lifting more weight is great if you need to grab something, but usually most scenarios don't call for carrying something that a Spider can't Lift normally.  It might be fun for grabbing a Savannah Master or APC to throw it off a cliff, but otherwise useless in most gameplay.

Hopper - Campaign Operations - Rating: Good, sort of
With all the Legs that get lost in a game, being able to stay Standing is very useful.  However, unless this is assigned for free, I don't see a lot of players actually getting it, as it costs the same as another Lucky, Float Like a Butterfly, or Inspiring Commander.

Human TRO - Campaign Operations - Rating: Too Good, maybe?
Okay, this is an odd one.  In Alpha Strike, this is almost useless.  While forcing a Crit is very good, you only get to do it once per game.  In Classic, it is godly.  Being able to get a Determined Crit with an average roll (which is about 50% of my denied Crit Rolls) can be huge.  We have a player who has put it on all his pilots, and his pilots become killers with this.  It's also cheap as chips, but because it only affects a die roll by one, I'm hesitant to advocate for this being more expensive.

Iron Will - Campaign Operations - Rating: Way too Situational
Much like Hopper, it's a good thing this is cheap.  Unlike Hopper, I've lost far more Legs than ran in to users of Morale Attacks.  If those Morale Attacks were more cost-effective, and thus more likely to run in to, than this would be more worth it.

Melee Specialist - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good
Stronger in Classic than in Alpha Strike.  Being able to Hit more easily with Physical Attacks can make the difference in a lot of situations.  However, being able to do just that much more Damage can be tremendous.  In our local biweekly campaign, this is a favorite and first step for our pugilist pilots.

Oblique Attacker - Campaign Operations - Rating: Under-costed
It costs the same as improving Gunnery by 1, removes the base cost of Indirect Fire as well as the cost of a Spotter.  In Alpha Strike is a bit more balanced in that going without the Spotter actually changes the cost of IDF to make it harder to do.  It might be wise to have 2 levels of this ability, the lower cost one has Alpha Strike's no-spotter penalty, while the more costly one removes the Spotter penalty.

Slugger - Campaign Operations - Rating: Situational
It's a good thing this is cheap, because it is so situational that I can't see this being deliberately taken.  Anyone who would want to take this would either get a 'Mech with a Hatchet, or customize their 'Mech to have a Hatchet, and save the cost for something else.  If SPAs are being randomly assigned, it's useful, but the Club rules are so useless we often ignore them in our interactions and go for Kicks.

Stand-Aside - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Situational
There are few times I need to bypass an enemy unit through a hex they are standing in.  In those times, it's often more useful (and fun) to use a Push, Charge, or DFA to Displace them, or just simply Jump over them.

Animal Mimicry - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Situational
There are two costs to this SPA.  First is the cost to buy it, and the second is they need to be piloting a Quad.  If you have a Quad nut in the party it is VERY useful, but for a Biped pilot it's pretty much useless unless your opponent/GM is a very nice guy.  That it blends well with Demoralizer isn't much a help because of Demoralizer's faults.

Blood Stalker - Campaign Operations - Rating: Overcosted
The cost is twice what it would be to improve Gunnery by the bonus you get.  Add in the fact that there is a penalty against non-Prey AND it only works once in a game, and it pretty much becomes contra-indicated to purchase in Classic.  Alpha Strike is still overcosted, but you can use it more than once in a game.

Cluster Hitter - Campaign Operations - Rating: Meh.
Being able to do Aimed Shots with Cluster Weapons, and without a Targeting Computer is awesome.  That it is not tied to a specific weapon like Sandblaster helps things out.  Only being able to use it one only one weapon at a time sucks, but understandable.  Having to Stand Still sucks even more and is punishing.  Good for mechs carrying a single Cluster weapon like a HAG, Rotary, or the Thunderbolt's LRM-15, but not really a strong contender when Sandblaster, while more restricted in variety, offers more overall Damage and works with IDF.

Dodge - Campaign Operations - Rating: Odd
I agree with others that the rules could be written better.  That being said, it's great if the pilot gets in to Melee a lot.  In our campaign we dealt with a Dragon with this ability, and the only thing that prevented it from being more annoying was when I shot it in the back and nailed its Gyro.  I can't say its not worth getting, but most of our melee pilots prefer the offense over the defense at present.

Eagle's Eyes - Campaign Operations - Rating: Situational
Having increase Probe range is good, if there is anything to use the Probe with.  Most scenarios don't have traps, Mines, or Hidden units where Probes are useful.  Honestly, every time I think of this, I keep thinking it costs less than what it is, and that's probably due to its situational nature.

More to come.  This is long enough as it is.

[Charistoph]

SPA review and feedback, part deux

Environmental Specialist - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Situational
Being able to reduce the affects of weather and Atmosphere is very beneficial, and if those conditions were common enough, then it would be worth its cost.  However those situations are not very common, unless the campaign is centered around a location in those conditions.  For a defensive unit, great.  For a planet-hopping Mercenary unit, not worth it.  Probably best reserved for Force Command Abilities rather than for a single pilot.

Fist Fire - Campaign Operations - Rating: Good, but situational
In order for this to be useful, the Mech needs to have weapons in the Arm.  So great on most mechs, but lousy on Javelins, Spiders, and Ost-series.  It provides a lot of power in to a Punch (but just one of the Punches).  I want to say it's overcosted, but I can't in all honesty.  The only thing this is missing is that it only applies to Arm-based weaponry.  It should be allowed for Leg Attacks as well, so the Crusader and Cicada can participate.

Headhunter - Tamar Rising - Rating: Good
In a way, this is almost a cheat code, particularly in scenarios where Headhunting is the purpose.  Still, if you have a hard time getting good Initiative Rolls, here's the help.  That you have to actually kill a target in order to get any other benefit helps balance out the cost.

Hot Dog - Campaign Operations - Rating: Situational and Overcosted
First you need a unit that can easily overheat.  There are a fair amount of those, so not too hard.  However, it's only a -1 for the cost of 2 Gunnery adjustments.  It also only covers Ammo explosions, Shut Downs, and possibly Pilot Damage and Random Movment.  It doesn't do much to overcome other Heat issues.  Of course, that would probably justify a higher cost, so maybe this version being a cost of 1, while a better one that minimizes Heat affects costs more could work.

Manuevering Ace - Campaign Operations - Rating: Odd
Okay, this is a weird one.  On one hand, the Lateral Shift for Mechs and VTOLs is great.  Improved chances against Skidding, Sideslipping, Turn Mode, and Out-of-Control affects are also great.  However, since the cost is twice what improving the Piloting Skill is, it's not good for Hover, WiGE, Wheeled, Tracked, or Aquatic units as it is overcosted for them.  However, the real cream is when combined with Natural Grace allows one to Run backwards.  Now, if it allowed those other units to Lateral Shift, it would be good, and if it could combine with another SPA so Vehicles could Flank Backwards, it would be amazing.

Marksman - Campaign Operations - Rating: Overcosted
Being able to make an Aimed Attack against a mobile unit is powerful.  However, the point cost when combined with being forced to stand still and it only being able to use one single weapon for this is just too much in cost.  Either the restrictions should be reduced (i.e. allowed to Move, even if just a Walk, probably the best), or the cost for this SPA needs to be reduced.

Melee Master - Campaign Operations - Rating: Undercosted, maybe?
I might get some flack for this, but I think this ability MIGHT be undercosted.  The ability to Kick twice, Hatchet Twice, or even give a Kick/Hatchet after a DFA or Charge is pretty big, and can tilt the scale in to one more PSR for the Phase.  I'm not totally sure on this, because it might not be worth it if it cost more.  Still, it's VERY good to have on a Melee-focused pilot.

Multi-Tasker - Campaign Operations - Rating: Good, but Situational
Now, being able to Split Fire is great, particularly if you're not using Design Quirks or not using a Thunderbolt or Goliath.  That being said, you need to have a reason TO split-fire in order to be worth it.  The average Awesome is usually best at focusing its fire on one target.  However, a Stalker might want to send its LRMs on Indirect Fire and its Lasers at a Mech/Vehicle in front.  This is where it is helpful.

Range Master - Campaign Operations - Rating: Good
This is a good balance of cost and benefit.  Someone mentioned ATMs earlier, and I think those and MMLs may be the only time where this SPA becomes truly over-powered.  For everything else, its perfectly fine where its at.  In Alpha Strike, it's probably under-costed with Medium Range due to that being where 90% of the fight occurs.

Sandblaster - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good
Artemis from the pilot, and it gets better as you get closer.  Very good when tied with Oblique Attacker.  That it is limited to one Cluster Type is a very good balancing point.  A Stalker pilot can either get for their LRMs or SRMs, or buy it twice for both.

Slow But Steady - Tamar Rising - Rating: Situational
Always moving first can suck a lot, particularly when your unit depends on it.  However, being able to make a clinch move before a target can be huge.  Get it on a Street Fighter or nasty sniper and its brutal.  It's almost over-costed because this is a double-cost SPA in that you're moving first even if the force wins Initiative.  I put it at Situational because it is one where you're making hard decisions before you even deploy.

Speed Demon - Campaign Operations - Rating: Poor
This is another double-cost SPA, and not in a good way.  First, it costs too much for what it does.  Don't get me wrong, a Charger moving 6/9 can be plenty scary, but it doesn't matter if that Charger cannot do anything after its move.  It can be useful for a first Turn movement or a 'get outta dodge' frantic move, but otherwise useless.  The only redeeming quality is that it can be combined with Natural Grace to Run Backwards, but for the same cost I can use Maneuvering Ace which doesn't have a downside.  Even if it cost the same as Iron Will, I feel it still costs too much.

Street Fighter - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good
Another one that's very good to the point of almost being undercosted.  A Hatchetman can be a scary glass cannon, but a Hatchetman that can add their Hatchet to the Autocannon Shot?  That's spooky.  Add in other melee SPAs, like Melee Specialist, Master, and Fist Fire, and you're talking about a unit that just killed something hard in one turn.  Still, that's a lot of cost to making a Street Fighter too good, which is what balances it out.

Sure-Footed - Alpha Strike: Commander's Edition - Rating: Good, but situational
I haven't found a Classic version of this rule.  However, for Alpha Strike it gives a conditional version of Speed Demon's ability without its cost as well as providing a bonus of Manuevering Ace.  It's good, if not great, if you have Roads, but useless otherwise.  Would be interested in seeing a Classic version of this to see if it is worth it.

That's part two.

[kaliban]

SPAs do not work in competitive games but in collaborative games are fun to use. Same for Quirks, by the way

Some are more powerful than others. Melee master, range master and jumping jack are particularly OP but it is fine if you use in the proper type of game

[Xotl]

Some excellent feedback so far: thank you, and I hope others feel free to chime in.  The more the merrier.

[Charistoph]

Part 3.  This should cover the rest of what's available to Mechs.  I don't know if I'll cover the more Vehicle or Infantry focused ones, and I'm not qualified to address Aerospace-exclusive ones.

Swordsman - Campaign Operations - Rating: Good, but Situational
Aimed Shots or TACs on demand with a Hatchet?  Yes, please!  That is, if I have a Hatchet.  It also helps to have stocked in a few other Melee Abilities.  That it can't be used with normal Punches and Kicks (i.e. no Claws or Talons) is what keeps the point cost balanced.

Zweihander - Campaign Operations - Rating: Poor
Being able to do additional Damage is good, however, possibly Critting yourself at the same time as well as doing a PSR for a miss.  While it is a good balance, as this can get too powerful very quickly, Melee Master provides a similar affect for the same SPA cost without the Critting chance.  It might be worth it at the cost of Melee Specialist.  And maybe a specific note that it cannot be used with Melee Master (it's kind of implied, but not specifically forbidden).

Antagonizer - Campaign Operations - Rating: Over-costed in Classic
The first of the Morale Attacks introduced, and also the first listed at 3 points, and that doesn't include the internal costs.  In Classic this only affects one unit per Turn, they have to be within 10 hexes, the Antagonizer must stay within 10 hexes to keep it going, pass a PSR +4 (provided they don't have Iron Will), and shoot no Weapons.  This is just too much of a cost when combined all together.  The Alpha Strike Version Doesn't have most of these inside costs (though it might be harder to accomplish), and it affects a 12" circle instead of a single target.  In Classic it might be worth it if they were allowed to shoot at the point of their Antagonizing, and affect units within 3 hexes of their Antagonizing target, but otherwise, something must be reduced.

Demoralizer - Campaign Operations - Rating: Over-costed in Classic
Second Morale Attack and there isn't much of a difference in rating between this and Antagonizer because they have the same issues.  Instead of rehashing them, I'll just point you back to that.

Combat Intuition - Campaign Operations - Rating: Poor in Classic
Let's see.  Point cost?  High. Extra costs? Pilot Damage.  It doesn't require a Consciousness Roll then, but it makes it easier for when the enemy hits you.  Benefits?  For that Turn you can do your Movement and Weapon Attacks in the Movement Phase AFTER everyone else Moves or before anyone else Moves.  Combined with Street Fighter and you have a nasty situation.  Don't get me wrong, the point cost is about right if it was the only cost, BUT the Pilot Damage makes it too easy to be taking a nap, so can only be used sparingly.  The Alpha Strike cost is that it can only be used once every 3 Turns.  These are not the same.

Judo - Dominions Divided - Rating: Overcosted
Being able to Knock Down (or better able to Knock Down) a Target after a Physical Attack is good.  Even get bonuses for being Heavier.  However, without any other benefits, this costs too much, particularly if you're taking other Melee SPAs to improve your chances and Damage.

Natural Grace - Campaign Operations - Rating: Odd
Okay, this one is a bit odd and initially feels overcosted until you take it all in.  It pairs up well with other SPAs in getting new bonuses, but it does so much more.  There are so many niche things that I don't know if its properly quantifiable.  It performs the ability of some Quirks and some situational helps.  Because a lot is situational, it feels like it is overcosted because to get the most out of it, you need to combine it with other SPAs.

Sniper - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good
If there are 2 SPAs that are almost always good, it is Jumping Jack and Sniper.  Sniper only becomes less effective when you get in to Short Range.  In Alpha Strike, this can be godly.  In Classic, it is the next best thing.  Considering the price cost of Range Master, this is the right cost.  Some groups have added requirements to it, but considering the other costs they tag on to it, they do to much.  This SPA is in a happy place.

Tactical Genius - Campaign Operations - Rating: Overcosted
Being able to reroll Initiative can be a really good thing if you lose.  What sucks is that the cost for this is the same as Sniper or Natural Grace.  It's simply too much to put in, especially when you can get Headhunter for cheaper and it is more reliable.

Terrain Master - Campaign Operations - Rating: Overcosted because of Situational
Much like Environmental Specialist, it is overcosted because it is so situational.  A couple things are useful because you encounter them a lot, such as Mountaineer and Forest Range.  Level Changes and Forests are on most maps, but still its overcosted for even these.  For everything else, they are so uncommon that getting those bonuses at all is unlikely unless it is a defensive unit protecting a certain area.  Much like Environmental Specialist, this is best left as a Force Ability.

Weapon Specialist - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good, but maybe overcosted
Okay, basically turn the desired weapon in to a Pulse Laser?  Yes, Please!  It may surprise people to think that I've often dissed others for costing more than they give, but in this case, I think it's about right.  However, the additional cost of being VERY focused in noting the difference between a Medium Laser and an ER Medium Laser makes it only useful for pilots of units which spam weapons like the AWS-8Q Awesome or HBK-4P Hunchback.  But man is the pilot deadly with those spammed weapons!

Sharpshooter - Campaign Operations - Rating: Overcosted
This is Marksman, but adds Critting.  It has all the problems of Marksman made worse by being the most individually expensive SPA in Campaign Operations along with the other restrictions in the list.  Same applies for Alpha Strike, though it does provide for more Damage.  It's still too expensive on the tin to be worth taking when I can take Sniper and Human TRO for the same cost and not have any of those restrictions.

Float Like a Butterfly - Empire Alone - Rating: Very Good
Being able to avoid a problematic Location or reduce a Crit Chance can be a game changer.  That it has upgradeable Charges makes it good.  Having a limit also makes it good.

Inspiring Commander - Empire Alone - Rating: Okay
Being able to hand out To-Hit rerolls to your friends is nice.  The only problem is that it's competing for slots with Float Like a Butterfly and Lucky and it only affects their To-Hit rolls.  To be competitive, it should apply to PSR and maybe SPA rolls (like Dodge or Antagonizer) as well.

Lucky - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good
Reroll Charges!  YAY!  This one is for To-Hit or PSRs.  This is Very Good.  It's biggest competitor is usually Float Like a Butterfly, as it is more defensive and Lucky is more offensive.

So that's all the SPAs I know of available to Mech Pilots and my feedback on them.

[Aresneo]

Combat Intuition - Campaign Operations - Rating: Poor in Classic
Let's see.  Point cost?  High. Extra costs? Pilot Damage.  It doesn't require a Consciousness Roll then, but it makes it easier for when the enemy hits you.  Benefits?  For that Turn you can do your Movement and Weapon Attacks in the Movement Phase AFTER everyone else Moves or before anyone else Moves.  Combined with Street Fighter and you have a nasty situation.  Don't get me wrong, the point cost is about right if it was the only cost, BUT the Pilot Damage makes it too easy to be taking a nap, so can only be used sparingly.

You seem to have missed the part where the damage from the unit using the ability happens immediately, meaning you can completely remove an enemy unit without it having a chance to shoot that turn. I have regularly seen it completely turn games around with only one or two activations. Frankly without the pilot damage it would be powerful enough that there is no reason to ever take any SPA that can't be combined with it.

[Estwilde]

The largest issue I've seen in play with SPA's is Jumping Jack (in Classic play) is that the ones that take it tend to take medium mechs with partial wings (and also improved jump jets in campaigns). The entire game they fire as if they are walking, have no heat problems, and are at +5/+6 TMM (they will find woods hexes with that much jump range).

Perhaps if it only gave a -1 to attacker modifier and not -2 but the cost was the same, but I'm not a game designer.

Sniper has also been taken in equal amounts across the current campaign game merc players (I think there are 4 or 5 with each). It makes them really, really good shots, but at least with Sniper I can hit them back (usually) :)

[Charistoph]

You seem to have missed the part where the damage from the unit using the ability happens immediately, meaning you can completely remove an enemy unit without it having a chance to shoot that turn. I have regularly seen it completely turn games around with only one or two activations. Frankly without the pilot damage it would be powerful enough that there is no reason to ever take any SPA that can't be combined with it.

No, I haven't missed that.  It is just a rarity to be able to hit a unit that is isolated or is the last one to kill.  Having to hold such an expensive SPA till the last shot in the game actually makes that cost worse.  Honestly, if they removed the Pilot Damage, made it only available every 3 Turns, and increased the base cost, I think it would be fine. 

Then there are situations where the last move in a game, isn't the last move in a scenario, and that Pilot Damage carries over to the next game.  I had a pilot sleep a whole game because it was two games over one scenario, he had brought 2 Damage in to the scenario, and got hit in the Head with a Bomb and he's napping.  It gets even worse as he was acting as backstop so any unit coming in the next game was right in his Rear.  One Hunchback 4P in the back later and He's snoozing on the Ground with his 4th Damage.

So, I'm taking this review with proper gravitas.

[Lord greystroke]

Combat Intuition is an odd one as it can change games with a right application of an alpha strike BUT i have seen this go badly wrong with the pilot then going unconscious and then not waking up until the battle is over so maybe its over cost for downsides , i would change it to no damage but once every 3 turns as then its good and competes with greats like Jumping jack       

[Charistoph]

The largest issue I've seen in play with SPA's is Jumping Jack (in Classic play) is that the ones that take it tend to take medium mechs with partial wings (and also improved jump jets in campaigns). The entire game they fire as if they are walking, have no heat problems, and are at +5/+6 TMM (they will find woods hexes with that much jump range).

If you think it's bad there, try adding in Assault Operations as a Force Command Ability, as it operates after Jumping Jack's Adjustment.  We have it in our campaign, and while the rest of the unit is Jumping with a +2, our Jumping Jacks are now Jumping with a +0.

I think its generally fine at its current cost for its modification, but if its modification is reduced, ala Alpha Strike, then its cost also needs to be reduced.

[Martius]

Much is said already, I will not repeat it here.

Instead I will give some general thoughts.

The abilities have the potential mess with the game balance greatly when used by a dedicated power gamer or a very inexperienced person. This is not a bad thing per se though. We play mostly scenarios, often part of a RP session, sometimes standalone. For me, who has to come up with those challengees the players will face, the SPAs (I still read it as self propelled artillery in my mind- am I the only one? ) are god sent. They allow me to fine tune the opponents, even when using the same units I still can make them feel differently for the players. Give a unit a certain identity, encourage my players to approach them in different ways. Give an AS-7K gunnery enhancing SPAs or melee enhancing ones- quite a different challenge. Add a gunnery ennhancing one or a mobility enhancing one to that LPPc w. Capacitator Stinger- again, completely different.
So I do like them a lot for these kind of games.

For an evenly slighty competitive game though.... nah. Too easy to abuse IMHO.

[MarauderD]

I've only used SPA in Alpha Strike, so these comments are limited to that rule set.

Combat Intuition:  in the games I've played, this is the most common SPA used in Command Lances.  It is such a game changer, I wonder if it should be tweaked to use every 4 turns instead of every 3.  Easy to tune this one with the frequency, so that is nice.  Not 100% sure what is the proper timing.

Lucky:  with multiple formations, you always see Battle Lances/Stars and this SPA.  Lucky (6) or (7) might be a tad too much for a 10-12 round game.  If it were toned down to 4 or 5, might we see other SPA's instead of Lucky every game?  Again, easy to tune, not sure what the right tuning would be.

Speed Demon:  Quite useful in Alpha Strike.  I wonder if it could be tuned up slightly to compete with the above.  Would an extra 1" move and 2" sprint  (total of 3" and 6") make it more useful to dictate engagement range? 

Sniper:  Unless you have copious amounts of cover, I think this thing needs to be tuned down slightly.  Maybe -1 Medium range and -1 Long Range instead of halving the penalties?  I think it could use some slight nerfs to make it less useful.

Just my .02c for Alpha Strike SPA usage.

[Lawn Dart]

Lucky:  with multiple formations, you always see Battle Lances/Stars and this SPA.  Lucky (6) or (7) might be a tad too much for a 10-12 round game.  If it were toned down to 4 or 5, might we see other SPA's instead of Lucky every game?  Again, easy to tune, not sure what the right tuning would be.

My group plays a lot of Alpha Strike, and we've given up on formations as they are not at all balanced.  I agree that the Battle Lance with Lucky is by far the most popular formation type - its utility seems much higher than what any of the other formations provide.  It's the one formation that's always chosen.

[DevianID]

Ive played a bunch of campaign operations, with multiple groups.  Ive never seen Charistoph's statement that buying SPAs costs skill advancement meaning you could either have a -1 to gunnery OR an SPA--its always both as far as we've read.  In the campaign operation book we've played by, a player gets 1 in 4 units to get SPAs, or 1 in 12 during company creation, to recieve SPAs in normal games, and in a chaos campaign a character that has improved gunnery/piloting can then buy SPAs like normal for WP once every 3 months.  In the AGOAC box each player picks a pilot card with the SPAs on it, and there are rules about how the picked cards interact and such, separate from the pilot skills the cards have which both players get.  Nothing ive seen puts SPA costs in terms of missed pilot advancement, so players always pick up SPAs whenever they are available.  In fact, because we follow the guideline from campaign operations that a regular pilot can have 2 SPA points max, vet/elite 4, legendary+ 6, players often look forward to pumping their skills to 1/2 because of the extra SPAs you get with heroic pilots at the same time you hit 1/2 skill.

I bring this up, because in our group the same few SPAs come up a lot.  First is any SPAs that improve hit chances: Jumping Jack for effective +2 hit bonus when jumping.  Weapon Specialization for +2 hit bonus with 1 weapon.  Melee Spec for +1 hit/damage with melee attacks, combined always with Melee Mastery for obvious reasons.  Blood Stalker for +1 to hit versus chosen target, great when you only have 1 target.  The sniper skill is more expensive, so it gets taken way less, as its easier to find a unit that has only 1 weapon for weapon spec instead of trying to make long range combat work, as weapon spec always applies for +2, while sniper only gives a +2 at long range, so its just worse in many situations.

The other ones that are situational but stupid strong is the oblique attacker to remove the spotter and spotter penalty, human TRO for more crits, the maneuvering skills on units specialized for them like forest master, as it makes ground MP better and gives a +1 extra to get shot at when walking.  They each have requirements, but let you do things that cant be answered easily... like if you have LOS blocking terrain, and you almost always do, oblique attacker is crazy powerful in campaign games cause spotting is often a pain rules wise and it removes way too many negatives to indirect fire.

If you have the force commander rules then giving the overall commander tactical genius with other init improving effects is really strong.

In alpha strike combat intuition just breaks the entire TMM balance.  It has a steep drawback in classic so its not popular at all for my players there, but its a very commonly seen SPA in any alpha strike games, especially with command lances.

There are things like antagonize+demoralize which I like for random pilots to have cause they are useful 'bad guy' pilot skills for campaigns, but the combo to prevent movement when both skills activate isnt actually 'broken' due to the steps involved and opportunity cost in taking those two 3 point skills versus, say, ac20 specialist and its immediate effect every turn for only 3 points.

Since most of the players are looking to buy power, the skills that dont bring direct power to the table get ignored.  Cluster hitter for example is ignored unless its on a pilot card with an ability the players actually wanted--like sniper or something for the players planned LRM boat.  When we dish out random cards to pick SPAs for a game, the players often scan for jumping jack first on all the cards, and only if no jumping jack is available will they access for next best options, like weapon specialist PPC or some such.

[Charistoph]

Ive played a bunch of campaign operations, with multiple groups.  Ive never seen Charistoph's statement that buying SPAs costs skill advancement meaning you could either have a -1 to gunnery OR an SPA--its always both as far as we've read.  In the campaign operation book we've played by, a player gets 1 in 4 units to get SPAs, or 1 in 12 during company creation, to recieve SPAs in normal games, and in a chaos campaign a character that has improved gunnery/piloting can then buy SPAs like normal for WP once every 3 months.  In the AGOAC box each player picks a pilot card with the SPAs on it, and there are rules about how the picked cards interact and such, separate from the pilot skills the cards have which both players get.  Nothing ive seen puts SPA costs in terms of missed pilot advancement, so players always pick up SPAs whenever they are available.  In fact, because we follow the guideline from campaign operations that a regular pilot can have 2 SPA points max, vet/elite 4, legendary+ 6, players often look forward to pumping their skills to 1/2 because of the extra SPAs you get with heroic pilots at the same time you hit 1/2 skill.

It's probably our GM's campaign rules, then.  A way to keep things balanced out and make choices matter as our characters improve.  We also have a limit on 10 points of SPAs, not 10 SPAs (unless they are all 1 pointers), but 10 points.  So with Sniper and Jumping Jack, I have 5 SPA spoints left I can purchase.

[Geg]

Not asked, but... The skills would be a lot more useful, outside of a campaign, if they had a BV (or PV) point cost and could be taken by a single player without screwing up the balance.

More on topic, these are the three skills I would label as having caused problems.

• Lucky in Alpha Strike: When using formations and SAR or MAR using the luckys from the battle lance, and lucky from the SPA makes it far too easy to put exactly the right amount of fire on a given unit to make it go away.  Also take the fun out of the game, when every poor roll gets luckied.
• Jumping Jack in Classic: Anything with the IJJ or Partial Wings become nigh unstoppable.
• Combat Intuition Both: So many arguments about if the target gets a TMM or not.  Basically makes high cost lights useless.  Sucks the fun out of the game.

Having played OpFor against players using SPAs.  I would say that anything that provides more than a -1 to hit starts to feel oppressive very quickly.  It got to the point where our GM capped the bonuses you could get from SPAs and Quirks to keep the campaign manageable.

[ProfessorMRB]

Our group plays weekly Alpha Strike with 6-10 players per table, 200PV per player. We allow almost anything unit wise--Aeros, LAMs, alternate ammos, uniques/experimentals,
etc.--but we ban only two things: the BSP cards and the SPA/SCAs. The BSP cards we don't use because we prefer the play experience of bringing actual units that do those jobs, but the SPA/SCA/Formation rules are basically unusable. They're either too confusingly worded, take way too long to plan out and set up, cause arguments, or they're too unbalanced and they cause bad play mechanics.

Examples:

Prep - Just working your way through the formation bonus apportionment section of AS:CE is confusing, jumps around for tables that aren't all in the same place, uses directions that are confusingly worded (how on earth is a new Battletech player supposed to be able to discern the difference between a "special ability," "special pilot ability," and "special command ability." Even for veteran players, that kind of overly generic language is a chore to slog through and scrutinize). It also suffers from option-paralysis. Dozens of choices is overwhelming, most of which aren't very useful, and this isn't fun for most casual, non-RPG-style players. Even worse is that to a beginner it seems fun because the Forcepacks are labeled as formations and it seems like it would be a thing that's easy to just set out and roll. Instead, the actual setup and prep is frustratingly complex, and because of the way the book is chronically poorly worded players get bogged down even trying to get a force correctly built.

Rules - Lets assume, though, that we get this far. When play starts, everyone has to constantly remind everyone else what a minor edge-case ability like "Antagonizer" even does when it makes little difference to the bigger ongoing game. It comes up when and if people remember it, and then there's a 5 minute conference where everyone pulls out AS:CE, tries to look up the actual wording of the rules, remembers that AS:CE is sorely lacking clarity and quick reference ease-of-use, and players start looking at the game organizers as if to say "we're not going to use rules these next time, right?" No, the answer is no, we're not going to use these next time. That's just for the ones that aren't weirdly overpowered or min/maxed. Because in the other cases...

Balance - Someone brings Oblique Attacker, Lucky, Combat Intuition, Tactical Genius, Rangemaster, Jumping Jack, Sharpshooter, Sniper, or Infiltrators and ruins the game for everyone else who didn't also bring those, or even for those who did. Already-irritating meta-units like JESIIs or mechs with jumpstrong become wildly overpowered, and the game becomes less about choosing a force you like and more about combining combat intuition with tactical genius to erase units before the opponent can even move. This is a good way to ensure that someone gets fed-up enough at the experience to never want to play Battletech again. Hence, why our group hard-bans SPA/SCAs when we'll allow almost anything else. Even when they're worth taking, worth reading and understanding the rules enough to build and play, they create terrible play experience.

My suggestion: Scrap these rules entirely and start over, at least for Alpha Strike. Make the formations MUCH simpler to create, have the bonuses tied just to the formation rather than individual pilots, and have the bonuses be very simple and not game-breaking. -1 to shots at long range (which doesn't affect Alpha that much), reduced cost for moving through terrain types (nice, but not decisive), or other similar, minor bonuses that don't change the way the game is essentially played. Fewer formation types, fewer bonuses, and simpler bonus mechanics that are easy to remember/explain/use.

Otherwise these rules are appropriate only for small groups of veteran players that want an RPG-like experience. They're just not fun for casual groups and they're hostile to beginners. When I heard the BTCC was using them, my jaw hit the floor. People complain about the Aeros/LAMs rules of AS:CE as being unusably bad; they're really not. The Aero/LAM rules are fun they just need to be more clearly written. The SPA/SCA section, though, needs to be completely rethought.

[CarcosanDawn]

Ironically, as a new player to Battletech, I find the LAM/Aerospace rules fiddly and hard to pick up and I find the SCA/SPA rules a breeze.

I also infinitely prefer having the Formations as encouragement and guidance for how to build a force - the "bring whatever you want" method has always been really hard to make sense of.

My $0.02.

[Khalus Pryde]

The largest issue I've seen in play with SPA's is Jumping Jack (in Classic play) is that the ones that take it tend to take medium mechs with partial wings (and also improved jump jets in campaigns). The entire game they fire as if they are walking, have no heat problems, and are at +5/+6 TMM (they will find woods hexes with that much jump range).

Perhaps if it only gave a -1 to attacker modifier and not -2 but the cost was the same, but I'm not a game designer.

Sniper has also been taken in equal amounts across the current campaign game merc players (I think there are 4 or 5 with each). It makes them really, really good shots, but at least with Sniper I can hit them back (usually) :)

100% this. Jumping Jack is the most broken ability I've seen used in games, especially with the combination outlined by Estwilde above.

In the same breath, I find Combat Intuition to be over-costed and/or too penalizing to use. Because of the inherent pilot damage that occurs with the ability, you can only use it one or two times before you're no longer able to use it again, as you lose access to a SPA with each point of pilot damage.

[Charistoph]

On to the unique Infantry Abilities, because I had some questions on them and after reviewing them, I felt they need to be addressed, at least partially.

Urban Guerilla - Campaign Operations - Rating: Strong or useless
Extra Defense, avoiding the "In The Open" bonus, and being able to summon more Infantry (even if Green) would be over-powered except its only useful in Urban terrain.  Having Ballistic Rifles on the summoned makes sense from a narrative perspective, but that can still be powerful if the player rolls pretty well due to the strong damage that can be deployed when compared to the Energy Rifle.

Foot Cavalry - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good
The worst part of Foot Infantry is their speed.  This improves their speed (which becomes VITAL if they are carrying some heavy support Weapons like SRMs) and allows them to avoid some of more problematic issues with moving through some of the more bothersome terrain.  These guys can move as quickly as the more burdened Motorized Infantry, which is fantastic, and also go through terrain without stopping that would slow the Motorized or Mechanized counter parts.  Nothing to complain about here except its cost is half the other Cavalry options, but is that a complaint about Foot Cavalry or the other Cavalry?  Hmmm.

Heavy Horse - Campaign Operations - Rating: Meh to Very Poor
So, get more firepower but less Movement.  I like having firepower, don't get me wrong, but is getting 4-9 more Damage worth losing a Movement Point?  Movement is Defense, and it's hard to justify this one.  It might work with the VTOL Branth, but for everyone else it's just too big a nerf, especially if they are carry a lot of Support Weapons.  This also gets reduced in usefulness because it doesn't consider the modern forms of cavalry, i.e. Motorized and Mechanized.

Light Horse - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good but Situational
Okay, this is like Foot Cavalry, but for Beast-Mounted Infantry.  That's good unless you don't have any Beast-mounted Infantry.  So the most glaring (not worst, just most glaring) issue of Heavy Horse is the same here in that it doesn't consider modern forms of cavalry, i.e. Motorized and Mechanized.


And that's all there is for SPAs that are unique to Infantry.  Many of the other SPAs previously reviewed work with Infantry, and an Anti-Mech Platoon with Human TRO on their target gets REALLY nasty with Leg and Swarm Attacks.

However, for the unique ones, only Urban Guerilla is available to Battle Armor, Motorized, and Mechanized Infantry (and MAYBE Jump).  There are some missed opportunities here, particularly since beast-mounted Infantry is in Tactical Operations, but these other Infantry are in Total Warfare.  Anything else beyond this starts getting in to Fan Design, so I'll stop here.

[Charistoph]

Now let's look at Combat Vehicles.

Oblique Artilleryman - Campaign Operations - Rating: Must Have
I know this works with Infantry and Mechs, but it makes more sense here due to Artillery being more efficient with Combat Vehicles.  If you have a unit that has an Artillery Piece or Arrow IV, being able to reduce your Scatter by 2 is HUGE.  That's effectively a 2 point increase in Gunnery.  That's not even considering that it also extends the range by a little bit.  That little bit isn't much for an Arrow IV, but for a Long Tom it adds map sheets.  Alpha Strike is pretty good, and it makes doing counter-battery more effective.  So, there is no reason not to get this to your artillery park as soon as possible.

Cross-Country - Campaign Operations - Rating: Good
So, being able to take a Hovercraft or Wheeled unit in to Woods, or a Tank in to water can be a huge thing.  There has been a couple times that my Hovercraft have been blocked by Woods being all over a map or Tracked units stuck by a river.  The only reason I rate this as "Good" is because of the demand of other Abilities might be a good reason to not take this as quickly as possible.

Dust-Off - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good
VTOLs generally HATE Woods.  It sucks that they have to treat them like 2 "story" lava.  Being able to either get down in to Woods to hide while traveling between cover, or to drop off some bothersome Infantry, makes this a very good ability.  The PSR may be a bit much, but it makes sense.  However it makes me wonder if the SPA cost is worth it due to that PSR.

Evasive Maneuver - Tamar Rising - Rating: Very Good, but better with certain types
Motive Hits can be the bane of a Tanker.  Even Tracked behemoths need to be wary of them as those Motive Hits can change it from a scary juggernaut to an Immobile turret.  However, it becomes even better for Wheeled, and almost necessary for Hovercraft crews as the bonus to their Motives can make even a small check on the side equal Heavy Damage or Immobilization.  It also covers an area where just being a better crew won't do the same job.  Only complaint is that it won't work for VTOLs or WiGEs.

Shaky Stick - Campaign Operations - Rating: Very Good
A +1 To-Hit while doing an Attack run with  VTOLs (and ASF) is very good.  VTOLs already are hard enough to Hit in most cases, but this can make them unhittable by anything but a REALLY good shot, Pulse, or Flak.  Again, this isn't an area where just having a better crew will affect it.

Wind Walker - Campaign Operations - Rating: Good, but costly
Effectively speaking, it basically provides a -1 to Piloting when approaching certain situations.  Great if "free", but if one is generally better of purchasing another SPA or upgrading Skills if it interferes with that.

Golden Goose - Campaign Operations - Rating: Okay for ASF, not for VTOLs
Shaky Stick, sort of, plus extra.  Not really worth it for VTOL pilots unless free, because the only thing that affects them with this is Bombing, which is also rather situational.  Even with ASF, you're generally better off just improving Skills instead of purchasing this outright, so only good free.

Ride the Wash - Campaign Operations - Rating: Way Overcosted
This puppy is EXPENSIVE for VTOLs and WiGEs!  All you get out of it is a free facing change or Elevation Change at no MP cost while Flanking.  Now, don't get me wrong, a free MP is always useful, particularly if it can change a Sideslip Crash in to a Sideslip Drift.  However, it is so expensive that one might not have any room for anything else, and good planning can often account for it being needed. 

For Aerospace it MIGHT be worth it as does double duty reducing the cost of doing Maneuvers as well as being able to force PSRs on to other airborne units.  Still, like Judo earlier, it just doesn't feel worth the cost when compared to other SPAs that are more useful.

And that's it for Vehicles.  I incorporated a few remarks on ASF in this one, but that's because there are some that are really meant for ASF which get the VTOL and WiGE get access to as well.  In most of those cases, they just aren't worth it for the more fragile airborne Combat Vehicles.  They MIGHT be worth it for ASF, but I've only really used ASF in one Alpha Strike game, so I can't give a proper review on them.

[Daemion]

A lot of the ones I use are from Maximum Tech or lots of custom ones to 'break certain rule conditions' in a one-off fashion for fun.

I haven't really seen all that's available currently, save for what was on the pilot cards in the beginner and core game boxes. I'll have to revisit them, but I did find some a bit underwhelming.

[niall78]

My only experience of them is in Classic in MeKWars.

They are great fun. Nothing better than spending your EXP on different combos - each slightly madder and more broken than the next. Ending up with a LongBow pilot with 0 gunnery, Oblique attacker, LRM-20 specialist, etc - and hitting on a 2 at long range against a moving target with non-spotted indirect fire in a city fight.

Now while this is mega fun against a bot I can't imagine how it gets balanced in a normal PvP game - MegaMek or tabletop. Many of these abilities are game breaking - especially on highly levelled pilots and not fun to play against or even play - who likes easy mode?.

I'm also not seeing how they get accounted for in BV? Maybe I'm being dense but these things seem impossible to balance in a normal game.

My opinion are SPAs are great in solo play against a Bot (especially in a campaign game) and are probably great fun in a role-play/GM run campaign where players are heavily invested in their characters and want to see them develop and where a GM can balance things up on the fly.

I also think they are pretty broken and open to abuse in BV balanced PvP games.

[Daryk]

From the AToW perspective, the prerequisites usually add the necessary costs to the ones most think are under-costed at other scales (Sniper especially, but also Jumping Jack).  One particular note about Sniper: it also affects Extreme range, turning that into what WAS Long range.  That's HUGE if you're playing with that optional rule (it used to be unclear if it applied to LOS range, but thankfully a rules question that morphed into errata sorted that out quickly).

Again from the AToW perspective, I'm most concerned with SPAs being added at other scales with no costs for AToW figured out ahead of time.

Also, I have a thread down in Fan Rules with additional Infantry SPAs, if anyone dares to look (I'm aware of TPTB's allergy to that forum).  I also did a version of Heavy Lifter for Vehicles ("Heavy Hauler", it just seemed a logical addition).

[Charistoph]

The only time we've used SPAs like in a "PvP"-like game is for an Easter Egg Hunt or Christmas Present grab.  Otherwise, it's campaign-only and you have to earn them.  There is no proper purchase structure for them, so are horribly unbalanced as a result.

For the Easter Egg games, Players only have one unit to apply them to, and the unit will reset when destroyed or disabled.  Each Egg provides a special "power" when opened and this can include some SPAs, new equipment (like 'Mech Grenades), or modifiy equipment (Lasers are now Pulse or LRM is now Streak).  Very similar to the Arcade document.