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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kannik" data-source="post: 9753451" data-attributes="member: 984">When it comes to the side tables, at first blush I'm less keen on the revision.  A lot of what I would consider firing to the side of the mech is in the front firing arc right now.  To make a side firing arc, where you can't hit the opposite side/structure, feel 'right' to me would need the arc to be the 60 degree arc between the middle of the front side and rear side hex faces/ ~ \  < - midpoint of this face\ _  /  < - to midpoint of this faceBut that would make the rear arc much bigger and thus mean more shots could hit your rear torso armour.  Maybe that's a reasonable trade-off.Beyond that though, both with what's currently considered the side firing arcs and even if the arcs were switched to the above, I would be hesitant to have a table where you can't hit opposite sides as with the mech's moving all about both in and around the hex ((fictionally, not necessarily mechanically), and also your relevant positions throughout the turn (you may have started outside of that arc, and fire is happening throughout), so I like that there is some chance to hit opposite side things.  Especially arms and legs, which are swinging/moving about.  On the plus side, the new method would make positioning more powerful -- if you are a maneuverable mech and can stay on the same side then you can more reliably hammer on the same locations over and over again.  So that helps light mechs a bit, perhaps, especially against heavier units.And as for the idea this may help speed up the game, with the idea that there's one less table to memorize or consult, well, maybe. But if the table is on your record sheet, I don't think an additional table adds that much overhead.  (Mostly because overall I find the biggest impediment to speedy BT battles is less due to the multiple tables, locations, components, different weapon ranges, etc, but much more about the low to-hit chances (it's not uncommon to need 9+ or 10+ to hit, thus giving a 70%+ miss chance).  It's why I'm not super excited to play Alpha Strike, for while it's got its own schtick as a way to speed up BT I think it misses the boat a bit.  I've been testing some alt rules that use either 2d8 (sacrilege to introduce another die type, I know, but the numbers work out great) or 3d6 for the to-hit roll, increasing the overall die result range meaning each step is smaller meaning the chance to hit goes up (but also not by so much that modifiers become meaningless).  This avoids those rounds of nothing but whiffs which is what has the game take a long time to complete.)</blockquote>

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