So for ease of access, this is what was on the Sarna forum:
"...you gain a bonus to PSRs for resisting movement caused by receiving physical attacks or massive damage). It also provides a more stable firing platform (no PSR from firing a heavy gauss rifle, and a slight bonus to hit when using heavy ballistic weapons).
The downside, of course, is that whilst anchored, you are practically immobile. You can still wiggle and flinch, and you can still twist your torso, but you can't use any MPs and attacks against you gain a bonus.
• You can activate/deactivate the system during the End Phase of your turn. You can also activate at the end of your movement phase if you haven't exceeded your Walk MP, but you can't deactivate until the next turn.
• The system weighs 0.25 tons for Light 'mechs, 0.5 tons for Medium 'mechs, 1 ton for Heavy 'mechs, 2 tons for Assault 'mechs, and 4 tons for Superheavies.
• On Heavy and Assault BattleMechs, it occupies two critical slots in each leg. Superheavies, two superheavy slots. But on Light and Medium 'mechs, and on IndustrialMechs, it only occupies one critical space in each leg. This is especially important for IndustrialMechs, because it enables compatibility with Environmental Sealing.
• The 'Mech Anchoring System will be most effective on 'mechs with more than two legs!
• Anchoring directly to another unit is explicitly forbidden. No tank-surfing."
For my thoughts:
Activation on End Phase coincides with many similar rules. I can see the advantage of activating it in the Movement Phase, though it should be consistent, either way.
The unit should count as Immobilized, but maybe with a smaller penalty of a "TMM" for it, like a -2 or -3 instead of the default -4. If Anchoring in the Movement Phase is the method used, this would be combined with their achieved TMM, so if a Goliath Walks Forward 3, and the TMM negative is -3, they then have a combined "TMM" of -2.
The best AMM it should provide is a culmulative -1. That means if you Walked before engaging it, it would be a net zero AMM, if you stand still, it's a -1. Of course, combining this with Pulse and Targeting Computer, AES, or with Flakk makes for a VERY dangerous opponent.
It should not eliminate any PSR. That being said, providing a -2 to PSRs for being Anchored would be about right. It's already crazy strong with Quads, and is a good landmark to start testing it out.
It should prevent any Kicking Physical Attack with any Anchored Legs. The phrasing here is deliberate when considering Quads having it mounted. Quads should be able to Anchor half their legs (Front or Rear) or all of them. Either it should only provide a -1 to PSR for Anchoring with Half or -3 for Anchoring with all 4 legs. While my Goliath and Sarath would prefer the latter, I think maybe the former might be a bit more balanced as Quads have a default -2 to begin with.
One last thought, is this system poddable? While it won't matter for customized and raw-built Battlemechs, being able to apply it to a Sunder or Tenshi could be quite useful.
