Armor Grid: The battle for Grimm Pass

Now that the Christmas hangover has passed, I can post our game form last Thursday. I'm always on the lookout for rules for my big, stompy mechs. The idea of 5 story walking robots is dumb. Billions of credits to build, and a guy with a disposable missile launcher can take one out with a shot to the knee. But I love it.
I grew up playing Battletech, but let's face it, it's not great for a multi player games that has to be over in a couple of hours. I've tried Battletech's newest "easy" version "Alpha Strike". It's nice but pretty vanilla. And I miss marking of circles...
I stumbled upon Armor Grid while perusing Wargames Vault. Lots of good reviews and cheap.
A read through and I loved it.

I dug out all my repainted Mechwarrior tanks, CAV mechs, and Drak Horizon infantry.
Movement and combat is pretty straightforward. Fighting requires a target number based on your target's Profile and speed. You'll notice some markers in the pictures. The "!" denote a unit that has Rushed. They have a harder time hitting. The green radar markers denote unuts that have remained stationary.
Here's where I diverged from the rules. One of the complaints of Armor Grid, is that in the rules the shooter gets a bonus for remaining stationary. So games just end up with people standing around. I flipped it and made units standing around are easier to hit. House rule #1.
moving and shooting build up heat ala Battletech, that has to vented at the end of the turn.

After you hit damage is assessed in a way similar to my beloved Crimson Skies, with a roll on a simplified grid. Different weapons do different damage on the grid. When a "lane" is filled and innards of your mech exposed, criticals come in. Here we diverge again.
In the rules you only take out a vehicle on a 9 or 10 roll on a critical. You can end up hitting the same critical spot over and over without blowing it up. We changed to hitting the same critical sot more than once blows the vehicle up. House Rule #2.
The game play was easy to pick up and fast. We played with balance, identical forces except armament. Lasers cut deep. Missiles spread the love. Infantry are tough little buggers that can take a Mech out.
I'll definitely be playing again.