'Mech Duel Rules

The 'Mech Duel Rules, also colloquially known as the "Solaris Rules", are a set of 'Mech combat game rules from the boxed set, Solaris VII: The Game World.

Description

The 'Mech Duel Rules simulate battle between BattleMechs (or designated ArenaMechs) on a much higher detail level than the standard BattleTech boardgame rules do, to which they are very similar otherwise. In a way, they can be said to break up standard game turns and scales by a factor of four, requiring micromanagement of what was covered in a single turn's actions under standard rules.

Major Features

The most important changes are as follows:

• A turn represents 2.5 seconds of real time (as opposed to 10 in the standard rules);
• The scale is four times larger than the scale of the standard rules, changing the diameter of the area a hex represents to 7.5 meters and quadrupling weapon ranges accordingly;
• The weapons produce four times the heat of their standard values, the heat scale adapts to this but the heat sinks keep their "slow" cooling rate;
• Most weapons require some time to recycle until they can be fired again (depends on weapon used);
• Because of the limited time, a MechWarrior can perform only a certain number of actions (e.g. walk, fire a single weapon, fire a Target Interlock Circuit, etc.);
• There are some advanced actions like evading, aiming or sprinting;
• A jump can last up to four turns and it is possible to change the course or to fire during a jump.

Game Experience

Because of the modified heat system and the limitation on few actions per turn the players must consider their moves very well. They have to decide when the time is right to fire, for the 'Mechs run a lot hotter and the respective weapons may not be used in the following turn(s). In addition, the quadrupling of the weapon ranges ensures that weapons with a long minimum range, like LRM's(now with a minimum range of 24 hexes), are difficult to use reasonably. Together this leads to a distinctively different performance of some weapons and whole BattleMechs.

The 'Mech Duel Rules provide more action, taking 'Mechs and Warriors to the limit. The higher level of detail offers more tactical options but the game gets more complex and time consuming as well. Consequently, it is only suitable for fights between very small numbers of combattants (usually 1 on 1).

References

• Solaris VII: The Game World