I recently played a game of MegaMek that included a custom Tarantula. It had a speed of 8/12 and had a pilot with the Maneuvering Ace and Animal Mimicry SPAs. This combination meant it could zip around the board paying 1MP for any lateral shifts it made (even into light woods).
Unfortunately it had one of its legs kicked off.
It immediately fell and had its movement profile change to 7/11 (which is shocking, but as far as I can tell, it's correct according to the RAW). On the next turn it got up and continued running around the board paying 1MP for lateral shifts.
My rules question is, should it have been able to perform a 1MP lateral shift when it's missing a leg?
TW pg 122 says that when a quad mech has one leg destroyed:
It immediately falls and loses all movement and combat bonuses gained from being four-legged: It can no longer make lateral shifts, it loses its -2 modifier to PSRs, it must make a successful PSR to stand after falling, and it suffers a +2 to Target Numbers for firing when prone. In addition, a -1MP penalty replaces any penalties associated with damaged leg actuators in the destroyed leg. If the 'Mech jumps, it still must make the usual PSR required for jumping and missing a leg, with a +5 modifier
CO pg 77 rules for Maneuvering Ace says:
Bipedal 'Mech units and VTOL units at Cruising speed whose pilots possess this ability can perform the lateral shift maneuver normally available only to four-legged 'Mechs, while four-legged 'Mechs can perform the same action for 1 less MP than usual.... In addition to the above, all units piloted by a Maneuvering Ace receive a -1 target modifier for any PSRs needed to avoid skidding, sideslipping or, in the case of aerospace units, out-of-control effects.
I would assume that the TW rule would supercede and cancel out the CO rule here, no?
Additionally, I would assume that the TW leg destruction rule (specifically the part that says "loses all movement and combat bonuses gained from being four-legged") would completely negate all bonuses gained from having the Animal Mimicry SPA... or am I wrong?
Thanks,
