MEKWARS: LEGENDS
RESEARCH ACTIONS
Mankind has been in an upward spiraling arms race since it first learned to shape objects into weapons. Throughout the 31st century this arms race has accelerated with factions striving to create decisive new technologies at a breakneck speed - If necessity is the mother of invention, then ambition is its father, and the factions that struggle for control of the Inner Sphere have ambition to spare.
There are two types of Research Actions which a faction may purchase as a strategic action for an upcoming turn--Research New Tech and Design New Variant. Each counts as a Strategic Action and has its own unique effects:
Research New Tech- The unlocking of the Grey Death Memory Core has accelerated the arms race in the Inner Sphere a hundredfold for the native denizens of the Inner Sphere. Not to be outdone the clans have accelerated their own weapons programs to make sure they will be able to maintain their technological edge over the ambitious successor states. Factions may choose to devote their scientific resources towards research towards unlocking new technology for their combat units to use. A faction should reference the campaign tech tree to determine the cost of unlocking a given technology based on what technologies the faction is already in possession of.
Design New Variant- While factions start the campaign with many designs on the drawing board, the demands and opportunities of the campaign as it unfolds cannot be predicted. The designs already in production or testing may not meet the necessities of war. The old mantra still remains "Adapt or die". The Design New Variant action allows factions to attempt to do just that, designing a new variant by modifying an existing canon designs that currently is in production.
The cost of designing a new variant can be quite expensive as the faction mobilizes its best engineers to condense a process that often takes many years into a single year. Factions may only research on new variant a turn. The cost can be determined by the scope of the the new design. The more radical the redesign, the more taxing the action will be on a faction.
A new variant costs (Refit Points/3) in Research Points (Round fractions up)
Additionally a new variant costs (Refit Points/9) in Industrial Points (Round fractions up).
In addition the following modifiers are applied to the final cost
A new variant costs (Refit Points/3) in Research Points (Round fractions up)
Additionally a new variant costs (Refit Points/9) in Industrial Points (Round fractions up).
In addition the following modifiers are applied to the final cost
- Tracked Vehicle Designs (-1 Industrial Point, Minimum 0)
- Wheeled Vehicle Designs (-2 Industrial Points, Minimum 0)
- VTOL Vehicle Designs (+2 Research Points)
- Aerospace Fighter designs (-2 Research Points, Mimumum 1)
- OmniMech/OmniVehicle Design (Industrial Point cost reduced to 0)
- Non-XL Design (-1 Industrial Point, Minimum 0)
- Design using unlocked technology (+2 Research Points)