Body Armor cost/benefit

[HAL-9001]

So, I've been refreshing the stats of my army lists and a bee has flown into my bonnet.

Body Armor costs 1 CP, for the effect of +2 Armor and -1" Move. A Minifig's default armor of 4 is the average roll of a d6 (rounded up), so increasing that to 6 would be the average roll of a d10 (rounded up), effectively bringing the Minifig from Structure Level 0.5 to 1. This, on its own, would increase a Minifig's cost by a half-point. However, docking Move by one inch would reduce its price by a half-point, bringing the Minifig's price back down to 4 CP.

I get that having a zero-cost protective item is undesirable from a game design perspective (and having Body Armor increase Move would just be silly), but I'm wondering if I'm missing a benefit offered by giving a Minifig some Body Armor as opposed to just creating an Ar: 6 (or 1d10) Mv: 4" Creature. Is it that Body Armor can be removed?

This is the tiniest thing, but it's been buzzing in circles in my head and it bugs me.

[IVhorseman]

One of many reasons why CP is getting largely ditched in the final iteration of Brikwars 2010. If you ask me, an item with a benefit and a penalty should be free, but in the number-crunching world of CP that's less of an option.

If anything, a minifig with d10 armor and 4" move is largely superior to a minifig with body armor - they even get extra momentum in crashes. The only possible upshot of a minifig with armor 6 is that it's less bookkeeping, and that you don't have the possibility of making a terrible terrible roll on a d10 (it happens).

[Zupponn]

The cost of body armor is your manliness, but the benefit is that it makes you tougher to kill.

[stubby]

It costs a CP because it makes the game slower and more complicated. This CP is not for budget balance, it's for punishment.

[james+burgundy]

As anyone that has seen my armies knows I have always been a big fan of body armor (usually rocking at least 40 sets of armor in my army as a minim )but largely for looks. I also just try to jack up the carnage to deal with a tougher fig but could see the argument that it takes the fun out of mass death.

[IVhorseman]

just cause they're wearing it doesn't mean you have to stat for them wearing it.

[cleanupcrew]

just cause they're wearing it doesn't mean you have to stat for them wearing it.

Trattorians wear pretty heavy body armor, but as I still haven't come up with any satisfactory stats, they still have the same armor as a normal minifig. Which kind of fits, I suppose, as Trattorians are physically a bunch of weaklings.

[lordintype]

So, I've been refreshing the stats of my army lists and a bee has flown into my bonnet.

Body Armor costs 1 CP, for the effect of +2 Armor and -1" Move. A Minifig's default armor of 4 is the average roll of a d6 (rounded up), so increasing that to 6 would be the average roll of a d10 (rounded up), effectively bringing the Minifig from Structure Level 0.5 to 1. This, on its own, would increase a Minifig's cost by a half-point. However, docking Move by one inch would reduce its price by a half-point, bringing the Minifig's price back down to 4 CP.

I get that having a zero-cost protective item is undesirable from a game design perspective (and having Body Armor increase Move would just be silly), but I'm wondering if I'm missing a benefit offered by giving a Minifig some Body Armor as opposed to just creating an Ar: 6 (or 1d10) Mv: 4" Creature. Is it that Body Armor can be removed?

This is the tiniest thing, but it's been buzzing in circles in my head and it bugs me.

Easy answer. It costs resources to make armour. Not making armour doesn't.

[stubby]

This has been brought up before, and the answer is basically

(6) it can be removed and traded around, allowing minifigs to change their stats in the middle of battle
(7) it decreases mayhem, therefore has a punitive cost as disincentive
(8) it increases complexity, therefore has a punitive cost as disincentive

Going by strict utility, the Armor should cost 0 CP. But each piece of Armor makes the game a tiny fraction slower and less fun, so I added a small cost.

[HAL-9001]

I gotcha. Thanks for clarifying!