Beta 1.3 , rolling forward.

Overwatch moved out of Core rules, and changed to an advanced rule. Flanking is the replacement. As the beta testing period continues, new updates will be smaller, the refinements more granular. The core loop of LANDWAR is solid, and the important Stress mechanic feels complementary to the main design and flow of the game.

Overwatch is over-written

Having run several more playthroughs, especially with reverting unit activation back to 'players move all their units at once'; Overwatch as written doesn't really fit the flow anymore. LANDWAR was never really a game of interrupt, units activate as a team instead of separately. Overwatch originally was a soft-penalty on very 'gamey' unit movement, where units seemingly ignore all board state to move  around into the objectively best position. Battletech's infamous 'congo-line' tactics for light mechs loomed large when we designed the mechanic.  

Instead we've added a mechanic called Flanking, essentially an 'off-sides' mechanic for units during the move phase. Whenever a unit tries to get around an enemy unit, outside of Melee, but in Line of Sight, the moving unit suffers +1 Stress. This represents a unit 'sliding in under the guns' so to speak, a risky play that could pay off in the Combat Phase. Naturally, all [TAGS] that dealt with Overwatch  have been updated to instead use / build off the new Flanking rules (Charger, Cloaking System, Fortification, etc). The new mechanic keeps the game flowing but generally creating the same sense of risk and reward.

How fast is too fast.

Having played at least a dozen games and using the prescribed ideal battle area of 3'x3'; the High Speed Move rule has been upped from 12" to 14". Units that move between 6" and 10" have ended up not feeling exactly fast in the balance of an entire 6 turns of the game. 10" is a great speed for medium units, 12" fits for lighter units...but this would be triggering the High Speed Move rule too often. Shifting the rule to 14" should encourage players to field speedy units that can still contribute to the damage phase....

TAG Updates

•  [Cloaking System] - Updated the buffs, cost, and mechanics (including Flanking effects). Units that remain stationary and dont attack gain a further +1 to defense.
• [Blink] - may ignore Flanking.
• [Jump Jets] - the cheaper blink, unit still subject to Flanking stress checks.