I'm interested in hearing what the community thinks about the Munitions Specialization Token mechanic. For those of you who have used it, what is your impression?
I haven't used it myself in gameplay, but I just refreshed myself on it by reading the FotB rule book (p. 10), and my concern about this mechanic is that it is too limiting. In the rules-as-written, a player is constrained in the following ways when using these tokens: 1) They cost 1 CP for each token; 2) can
only assigned to Vehicle or Equipment units in Op Fire mode; and 2) the player
must use them the next time the vehicle fires.
In my view, it is fine to limit the number of tokens each player can have on the board at any given time (up to three), but I'm not comfortable with the constraints above. If I'm opting to spend 1 CP on them rather than on Strategy Cards or Initiative, there needs to be a very compelling reason, and I wouldn't want to risk losing that investment without getting any return. I wouldn't want to waste that CP by being required to use it only in Op Fire mode, or by having to use it in my next attack.
Pending what response the community has, my inclination is to modify this mechanic with the following house rules:
- Players can purchase up to three tokens during the Status Phase. Once purchased the player places no more than one token face-down next to one of their nation’s vehicles or pieces of equipment (whether or not the unit is in Op Fire mode). Each nation may have a maximum of three munitions specializations on the board at the same time.
- The munitions specialization token remains facedown next to the assigned unit. The player chooses when to use the token in an attack. The player may use it immediately or may "hold" the token for a future attack. Units with a token can move, and the player can use it in any Concentrated Fire, Combined Fire, or Opportunity Fire. When used, the token is flipped over and any effect is applied to this single attack.
- At the player’s discretion, unused munitions specialization tokens (for units that did not attack) may be discarded at the end of the next Status Phase or they can be kept with the unit to which they were originally assigned at no additional cost.
- Any revealed tokens are discarded at the beginning of the next Status Phase.
Functionally, this mechanic allows players to spend 1 CP to get different one-time attack bonuses. I don't see the logic in the rules-as-written of restricting players by limiting this mechanic to Op Fire mode and requiring players to use the special ammunition in their next attack--and then charging players a valuable CP for the privilege. As it is, Strategy Cards in the various artillery decks are already sub-optimal because of how many CPs these cards often cost relative to the high chance the attacks won't be effective. I don't find that this game needs another mechanic that likely won't be used because players will opt for more optimal CP investments, such as other Strategy Decks or Initiative.
That being said, I'm curious what the community's perspective is on this!