So I've been watching some Mobile Suit Gundam and I thought to myself, man wouldn't it be great if we could get something like this in one of the best space 4X games out there? Well it could be a great addition that could make themselves stand out from the rest of the available ships you have at your disposal. Watch out readers I have way too much to say about this;


1 -  Make them harder to hit and make them hit hard


One of the things that would distinguish these from any other ships out there would be their mobility. Having these mechs fly around and dodge missles/gunfire so they would have a lower chance to get hit than a normal ship. This could be increased / decreased by the amount of weight / engine ability that your mech has in it's slots. Heavier mechs would have a higher chance of being hit but could carry bigger weapons, similar to the different ship classes. However each of these weapons would have a chance to Crit. I'm not sure if crit is in the game (I don't believe so?) but basically all of these shots that the mechs would take would have an increased chance to hit. Since they would typically have fewer weapons slots available than a ship, they would not fire as frequently / as much as a ship would but they would have a chance to hit hard. Improving this hit chance could be determined by my next point.


2 - Give heroes the ability to Pilot Mechs


ES2 already has a great hero system so naturally this would fit perfectly into having some of them be able to specialize in mech combat along with providing fleet bonuses that they already give. Pilots are always an important factor in every mech universe so I think this would fit greatly on how well the mech itself could perform. Something else that they would be able to greatly affect would be in my next point.


3 - Give them the ability to aid in ground assault


The roles of mechs can change greatly once they hit the ground. With the addition of these they could add some further depth into ground combat. With the additonal bonuses give from the heroes they are attached to along with modules they could speed up the rate at which a seige happens on a system. They could also boost the ground forces during the acutal assault. Since they would be brought in by a fleet this brings me to my next section;


4 - Have the mechs attached to ships & Systems


Larger ships such as behemoths, carriers and (maybe?) Hunters / Defenders would gain the ability to have a module on them akin to mobile suit decks in which they would need a specific launch system attached to the ship in order to have these mechs be able to launch from their respective ships. This would be the only method that mechs could travel through space as they are not built for long distance space travel (execept for the Vaulters portals). Alternatively you could also attach mechs to systems in order to give that particular system an added boost to its defensive capabilities. Think of it as a semi-mobile way to defend systems without having to invest in defensive system improvements. With that some mechs would be great for system defense while others would be more suited to space combat which leads me into my last point.


5 - Different Mech Types


Here's where things could get drastically different from person to person but I think a good way to structure them out would be in 3 basic types with heroe skills & modules to change the way you may want to use them:


Space artillery - These mechs would be speciallized in taking down other ships within space battles. They would have large weapons that fire slowly but can pack a bunch given if they crit. This would be likely a larger amount of what you would bring in most fights to compete with other people's fleets. A counter to these would be the following;


Mech vs Mech Specialists - These mechs would be specifically designed to take other mechs and focus on other smaller vehicles. They would be a great way to combat the artillery from the opposing force along with fighters and bomber ships. They could focus on using weapons such as beam swords , smaller machine guns or laser rifiles,


Ground Assault & Defence - These mechs would be used to boost your offensive / defensive ground units. Counters to these would be mechs of the same nature or the specialists mentioned above. The difference from the specialists to these guys would be that the Ground force mech would give bonuses to the troops while the specalists would not. 


And that's all I got ! For now anyway. Would love to have more of a discussion with anyone interested about this. 


Cheers!