The individual initiative bonus should pass back and forth from MM to MekHQ, rather than having to enter it in MM each time. This could be as simple as a box that the player enters the bonus he wants similar to the toughness box.
I would like to expand on this. Personally, I believe the initiative should be based on the speed of the 'Mech and the pilot's skill (not the T/N). So for myself I use the pilot's skill, the 'Mechs walking speed, and the Tactics bonus (if any). What this does is make your Elite pilots in your fast 'Mechs win the initiative most of the time. This is as it should be. However, if an Elite pilot in a fast 'Mech gets a poor roll and a Green pilot in a slow 'Mech gets a good roll, the Green pilot could, through luck gain the initiative for the round. This makes the die roll a matter of extreme luck rather than the primary factor.
I would suggest that in the campaign options the following checkboxes for individual initiative be included:
1. Tactics skill.
2. Pilot's skill.
3. Mech's walking speed.
If any or all of these are selected the total is added and recorded for that pilot's initiative. Of course if the piloting skill, Tactics skill changes, or the pilot is assigned to a different 'Mech, the initiative bonus should be recalculated and recorded again.
Of course, as above a simple box to set initiative to whatever the player wants should also be included (similar to toughness or edge).
This should then pass back and forth from MekHQ to MM. As can be seen from my example, this takes a lot of work to figure out the initiative for every pilot (mine, allies, opfor, neutral) for every battle, so I hope to see this included soon.
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IMHO... I strongly disagree that the walking speed of the Mech should be a positive influence on initiative, or even an influence at all. This is about pilot skills, someone in a Assault/heavy mech could still out anticipate the movement of much lighter faster mech. It only takes 3 MP to turn around, and avoid being outflanked. Also there are mechs with basic walking speed of 9 and others with 2, before we get into accelleration technologies.
So taking green pilots as a "zero" an elite 2/3 pilot (+3) in a Flea (9/14) by your model would have a +12 (9+3) and an Ultra-Green 6/7 pilot (-1) in a Annihilator (2/3) would b a +1 (2-1). Thus given a 2-12 2d6 range, even when we have an "extreme luck" event, Ultra-Green gets a 12+1 (13) and the Elite gets 12+2 (14).
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These are options. It would be up to the player to decide which, if any, options he would use. However, the basic request is for individual initiative to be included in MekHQ, so that it would pass back and forth between it and MM.
And yes in your example that Ultra-Green pilot will never win initiative. But that is an extreme example, and not unrealistic give the differences in skill and speed. Remember, a Flea is not simply faster, it would also accelerate quicker, and be more manueverable. Ultimately, initiative in BattleTech is not really initiative, but reaction. That Flea could react faster to the Annihilator than the other way around.
But again, these are just options for the player to choose.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I would like to expand on this. Personally, I believe the initiative should be based on the speed of the 'Mech and the pilot's skill (not the T/N). So for myself I use the pilot's skill, the 'Mechs walking speed, and the Tactics bonus (if any). What this does is make your Elite pilots in your fast 'Mechs win the initiative most of the time. This is as it should be. However, if an Elite pilot in a fast 'Mech gets a poor roll and a Green pilot in a slow 'Mech gets a good roll, the Green pilot could, through luck gain the initiative for the round. This makes the die roll a matter of extreme luck rather than the primary factor.
I would suggest that in the campaign options the following checkboxes for individual initiative be included:
1. Tactics skill.
2. Pilot's skill.
3. Mech's walking speed.
If any or all of these are selected the total is added and recorded for that pilot's initiative. Of course if the piloting skill, Tactics skill changes, or the pilot is assigned to a different 'Mech, the initiative bonus should be recalculated and recorded again.
Of course, as above a simple box to set initiative to whatever the player wants should also be included (similar to toughness or edge).
This should then pass back and forth from MekHQ to MM. As can be seen from my example, this takes a lot of work to figure out the initiative for every pilot (mine, allies, opfor, neutral) for every battle, so I hope to see this included soon.
IMHO... I strongly disagree that the walking speed of the Mech should be a positive influence on initiative, or even an influence at all. This is about pilot skills, someone in a Assault/heavy mech could still out anticipate the movement of much lighter faster mech. It only takes 3 MP to turn around, and avoid being outflanked. Also there are mechs with basic walking speed of 9 and others with 2, before we get into accelleration technologies.
So taking green pilots as a "zero" an elite 2/3 pilot (+3) in a Flea (9/14) by your model would have a +12 (9+3) and an Ultra-Green 6/7 pilot (-1) in a Annihilator (2/3) would b a +1 (2-1). Thus given a 2-12 2d6 range, even when we have an "extreme luck" event, Ultra-Green gets a 12+1 (13) and the Elite gets 12+2 (14).
These are options. It would be up to the player to decide which, if any, options he would use. However, the basic request is for individual initiative to be included in MekHQ, so that it would pass back and forth between it and MM.
And yes in your example that Ultra-Green pilot will never win initiative. But that is an extreme example, and not unrealistic give the differences in skill and speed. Remember, a Flea is not simply faster, it would also accelerate quicker, and be more manueverable. Ultimately, initiative in BattleTech is not really initiative, but reaction. That Flea could react faster to the Annihilator than the other way around.
But again, these are just options for the player to choose.