I strongly agree with @Vaulsc. Try some other stuff, this solution strongly undermines factions identities. New missions should work better.
I like them and prefer the way they are handled now (I voted D). Keep up keeping things fresh Hellois. Listening to this crowd nothing would ever change. That said I think it is important to keep options as open as possible. Players, TOs and communities that feels free units or seasonal rules are too disruptive can choose the missions with less extras. Or go for custom missions. I feel that seasonal changes create a more dynamic and fun environment. Assuming basic rules and basic balance is there (which it is in Infinity) it is perfectly fine to create an environment that some factions can take more advantage off and some less.
I like the idea of having an exotic Trooper* sprinkled into a few missions thus I chose the quoted above option. This leaves the player the choice whether or not to forfeit the 15th order to play the gratis trooper in that one mission of the tournament or not. * That said this trooper should indeed get only one or maximum two unique profile(s) and always generate a non-convertible irregular order.
If you want to monetize ITS ( which is a smart and logical business decision ) doing it with free units and then being afraid of the outrage people will feel when they are useless models next season is NOT the way to go in my opinion. Stuff like turrets is. You can be creative and sell ITS objective packs that you make in siocast, you can make them in different faction brands etc. For next season you could do something like deployable cover ( call of duty style ) where both players get to deploy cover of specific size in their DZ and you can sell models for those. Even in missions without that rule those models would be forever useful as terrain pieces. You could make special HVT models for each season ( instead of adding Aristeia characters that people who don't play ITS have to wait over a year for general release ) that would be both useful and collectable model as those would be sold only during that season. There are so many ways to monetize ITS that is fun and interesting to players, you guys are just clueless on how it should be done.
deployable cover is a very good idea, it will help with terrible table in tournament and make sense !
I like the - thematicaly - free trooper, but if it comes to SWC options, please tone it down to only one profile. MBH for example, I never saw the BSG or SMG were taken - just the Red Fury. As there is no Red Fury as a model just list the BSG and fine.
No, idea is that you literally deploy a piece of terrain, something like 45mm tall and 50mm wide in your DZ before placing troopers. Make limititations like it has to be placed on ground d floor in open terrain. It provides total cover for smaller S sizes and partial to bigger ones, so you can't hide a TAG in total cover. This gives each player an opportunity to modify his DZ in these missions, which is IMO fun and fresh idea. And not complicated to implement. Also easy to monetize, CB sculptor could make 3d models for that in 30 minutes and just slap different army logos on and you get a product for each army done in no time. Personally I would distribute these as 2,5e STLs directly from CB website, but I don't think people there are so forward thinking so siocast models would be good enough. Even cardboard would work.
My experiences were the opposite most people took the SMG+B2 Chaincolt option because they liked to trade it aggressively for stuff.
I would vote for C), but would prefer only minor things like the defensive turrets were available in certain missions. As someone who is trying to jam with communities in Japan, it's a hard to convince new players with all their sectorial's "cool stuff" and faction identity, then slam back down and say "you gotta get <ITS_MODEL> el oh el, I guess". If I see a bonus model (like an objective token or model, turret etc), I expect it to be evergreen so it's an easier pill for newer players to swallow. I very much like the idea, but cheap models in the fluff for everyone does really widen the gap between veterans and newbies (doubly so because the gap is so wide already). I would rather hear stories of players unsure about how a single random model selection they weren't sure on saved their bacon in an unexpected way vs. "yeah, he didn't know how to use <ITS_MODEL> but I did, so I smoked him".
A, or Option D? If it costs something, nobody is going to take them, because they're not actively better than what your faction is trying to accomplish. They need to be free imo. If they don't take a slot, they make alpha strike better by increasing your total orders on that group by +1. So they need to count torward the group's maximum orders. They could count (or not) torward the 15 troopers limit. It has different implications, but I think either outcomes are fine. One gives you more budget for your army-list, which could affect listbuilding (and can be interesting for ITS). The other doesn't impact listbuilding at all and is just a random extra dudes that you stick in your DZ to convert their orders and not care much about (a bit less interesting imo).
The problem with those units at the moment is that 9.9 times out of 10 people will just stick them somewhere and use a command token to turn their order regular and artificially increase their order pool to use units they actually want to play. The only exception I've seen to that rule are the bounty hunter bike from last season, because they're a pretty decent piece to begin with, especially the red fury one because a free B4 BS12 mimetic shooter that moves that fast is quite usefull really. As for other options, you really don't want to force players to make room for a unit they didn't ask for in the first place, be it slot or point wise. It' simply bad design, it only makes players resentful. So as other I'd go with one of two options: - D: Doesn't count towards group limitation, don't have to pay for it, but their irregular order can't be turned regular. Also stick to one profile, or make all profiles cost the same, otherwise the most expensive one (almost) always win. - E: Count towards group limitation, have to pay for it, but isn't obligatory, it just adds options. My preference goes towards D, it's simple really, and E has the issue that it provides no value at all to factions/sectorials who have access to the mercenary already. But overall I like the mechanic, and I think it can be a good opportunity to bring variety to the table, and just like the motorized bounty hunters it can be one way to make sure that all factions gets to play with the season gimmick at some point. my 2 cents.
