Junker Upgrades

[Casinha]

Junker are what I'm calling this Steampunk faction, by the way. I'll have more up on them in general later on. For now, I give you, the "Rear Blasters"

"When activated, a number of small blasters located on the back of the mech release a short burst of intense, high-powered steam, propelling the mech forward on its treads at breath-taking speed, although a stopping mechanism has yet to have been perfected. The Rear Blasters may only be activated in the assault phase, and only if the mech has remained stationary during the movement phase, and has not fired any Body, Ordnance or Mega weapons during the shooting phase. This is to allow the pressure to build in the tanks. When used, the Mech may make a straight charge of three times its Movement towards an enemy model. Upon impact, a single automatic hit is made on the enemy mech with a strength value of the charging mech’s armour.
If the charging mech is larger than the charged mech, the latter is pushed D6 inches in the opposite direction to the charge and must roll a D6. On a roll of 3+, it counts as having fallen over.
If the charging mech is smaller than the charged mech, the former must roll a D6. On a roll of 3+ the charging mech has fallen over.
After use, the Rear Blasters may not be used for another D6 rounds as vents release excess steam and clear the pipes for the next use.
A mech with rear blasters may not include any ranged weaponry on its body."

Personally I believe that a hit at the strength equal to the armour is definitely too powerful. The other idea I got was at twice the mech's Strength, but that doesn't really make sense because the mech isn't doing anything that requires strength. The other ways I thought of were too weak, or rendered the attack nigh on useless.
Help would be appreciated, of course. Also, any ideas of your own for Junker upgrades would be welcome.

[Adam]

Warmachine Slam? ;D

I used to have a weapon upgrade like that. It was called 'Wild Charge'. You charged at double your speed and could re-roll attack dice, basically.

I decided one day to make a playtest mech that could move as quickly as possible. It was multipedal, had a supercharger, Mv 7 or 8, and Wild Charge. It could charge 42" in one turn. When it got there, it had a buzzsaw that could reduce heavies to scrap in a couple of rounds of combat.

Needless to say, after that short-lived playtest game, the upgrade was dropped.

I replaced it, though, with Afterburners - an upgrade that lets you move faster for a turn. There's also Wheeled (think Bonecrusher or whatever his name was from the Transformers movie, the one who slams through the bus) - deployable wheels that let you move at +2 Spd, but only entirely through open terrain. So your Junker Upgrade lives on.

There's nothing stopping you (or anyone) using steampunk equivalents. Counts-as is a versatile thing and as long as an upgrade is represented on the model in *some* form, then it's all good.

I do like the idea of a slam attack though. I haven't put that in partly because DoS mechs will usually be quite well-balanced (whereas WM jacks are really top heavy and comparatively easy to bowl over), but partly because I didn't think to port it over through the system. Having said that, if you charge a falling-back mech, you get an impact hit and knockdown (although no D6" backward movement). So it's there in spirit, I guess. Charging a combat-ready mech will have the target alert and ready to defend itself - mechs have good sensor suites on the whole.

[Casinha]

Will soon be making up a number of "count-as" upgrades for Junkers to match other mechs in combat. Will also probably make up a few Junker-specific upgrades which can be added or refused at the developer's discretion.

[Adam]

That sounds like a plan. Well I dunno about Junker specific but we'll see about adding them into the main rules. Then again, faction specific upgrades sound like a cool idea, I could do like a page or so of rules for each faction/religious belief and see about balancing them to fight one another perhaps. To make *sort of* armies.

[Casinha]

Here are a few Junker versions of upgrades found in the latest list I've seen:-

Submersive Mic and Speaker (+10 cogs): Similar to microhpones used below the surface of the water to measure depth, using supersonic waves of sound to measure the distance between the sender and any obstacles. Sending and receiving thousands of signals a second, the radar is able to discern whether or not objects are moving, what direction they're moving in, and how large they are. When used, a basic green and black image appears on the HUD of the pilot. All Junker mechs output a scrambled signal changed for each mission, so the pilots can discern between friend and foe.
Effects are similar to "Advanced Sensors", but only grant +3D6 to Night Fighting Distances. However, the technology is crude, and thus the advanced technologies of the usual "Scramblers" are ineffective, not accounting for the low-grade technology of the Junkers. Therefore, the 3D6 bonus is not lost against enemy mechs with "Scramblers".

Hydraulic Boost (+20 cogs): At the smash of a button pistons and cylinders scream furiously, sneding the machine into a blinding flurry of movement. "Hydraulic Bost" can only be used once per game.
Effects are same as "Afterburners".

Head Plate (+8 cogs): A huge metal plate covers the thingypit of the mech, granting extra protection at the price of mobility.
Effects are same as "Armoured Head".

Camo Plate (+15 cogs): Painted in the colours of the surrounding area, the mech is rendered nigh on invisible to those around it. Effects are same as "Camoskin", but camouflage theme must be determined before the battle begins (desert, forest, urban etc).
Only one theme of camouflage may be active per game.

Shield Plate (+25 cogs): A large plate of armour is grafted onto a mech's arm. Forged and shaped in a way that helps deflecting oncoming attacks, it can be used for as a helpful boost to a mech's defensive capabilities in close combat, not to mention its offensive uses.
Effects are same as "Combat Shield".

[Adam]

Y'know, you don't need to write those as official. Counts-as is counts-as. You make a headplate, camo plate and shield plate and you just buy the corresponding ordinary upgrades. The low tech sensor is a neat one though: I might put that in the faction specific rules if or when I write them.

[Casinha]

Okay, although a few of the upgrades (Commando, for example) will most likely be completely unavailable unless scavenged mechs are used.
I'll look out for the upgrades that would honestly need explaining, and do my best to come up with logical explanations.

[Adam]

Commando?

Ah, they'll find a way... Imagine a giant tunnelling machine, Journey to the Centre of the Earth style... Burrowing up to the surface, splitting open and revealing a steam-wreathed, plasma-haloed mech. Which immediately opens fire. Dakka.

Easy.

Or some kind of helicopter assembly, that drops off once the mech lands (something similar could represent jump jets). One cool way to do it would be... have you played Rise of Legends? The Vinci scout flyers've got this large, screw-shaped rotor. Looks pretty neat and original.

[Casinha]

True. And Da Vinci's mech-mount is a good example of what I see the Junkers as.

[Adam]

Hell yeah. What an intro that game has - rivals Dawn of War imo.

Y'know, maybe I'll make the Junker special character (whom I've a great idea for...) a little like him. Big electric cannon an' all.