LEVEL 7 [OMEGA PROTOCOL]: Extreme Prejudice is in stores now. Those who have played the original [OMEGA PROTOCOL] will be surprised by the many new and interesting enhancements to the game and the LEVEL 7 setting (and if you haven’t played [OMEGA PROTOCOL], there’s no better time to pick it up). So far we have looked at the Russian Soldier, the Brute, the Warden, and the Ghin Commando. This installment is about one of the most anticipated additions to the game, the M.E.A.T.S.A.C.

Before I dig too deep into things, let’s get the acronym out of the way! M.E.A.T.S.A.C. stands for Mechanized Exo-Armor Tactical System for Advanced Combat. The suit represents the height of the Agency’s combined Ghin and human technology. The psychotronic tech used in the suit allows the user to mentally interface with the hardware—and like other uses of psychotronic technology, it takes a toll on the operator.

We’ve been working powered armor into the LEVEL 7 setting for a while now. One of the advancements in the military technology track in LEVEL 7 [INVASION] is Powered Exoskeletons, which represents the widespread use of this armor type. Powered armor also appears in the prequel story to [INVASION], Danger Close. The character that pilots the suit in the story of Extreme Prejudice also makes her first appearance in Danger Close.

When designing the M.E.A.T.S.A.C., I had one very important consideration. The Heavy Support Specialist in the base game was designed as the tanky guy with the biggest gun. If the new model were just a bigger tank with a bigger gun, the original character would be entirely overshadowed, which is something you want to avoid when making an expansion. I needed to find a role on the team that fit the feel of the suit without stepping on the toes of any of the original heroes.

When I was deciding which characters would be on the original [OMEGA PROTOCOL] team, the only role that wasn’t covered specifically by any of the commandos was the hacker. Getting a commando for that role was one of my first goals for this expansion. In addition to a hacker, I also wanted to include a larger character with a base size bigger than one space. As work on the Ghin commando progressed, I was sure he wasn’t the hacker. Eventually, the team decided a mechanized suit of armor easily fit the goal of a large-based commando, and adding the hacker abilities to the suit would create the character I wanted. As a bonus, the suit’s hacker abilities also gave it a way to fill a different role than the heavy support specialist. From there, it was a natural process to discover what things a character of this type could do and what it would look like in the game.

When making a new commando, I often start with the stance options. Since stance cards determine stats and special abilities, it helps to know what the stances are before building the kit cards, which will further modify the character. Commandos have a stance that moves them at a slow speed, a fast speed, and a speed that is somewhere in the middle (Cautious Advance). For the M.E.A.T.S.A.C., I decided it would be the slowest hero, but it would trade that disadvantage for things that no one else could do.

The suit’s slowest speed is called Hunker, and this speed doesn’t allow it to move at all. The trade-off for that lack of movement is increased accuracy when attacking, and the ability to block enemy line of sight to commandos hiding behind you. The fastest stance option lets the player take advantage of their size and smash through enemies.

When working on the kit cards for the M.E.A.T.S.A.C., I split things between hacking and combat. One of the kit cards in its set lets it look at door markers and access control panels from a few spaces away. Another lets it scan rooms to get an idea about the location of enemies or objectives.

In the base game, there is only one kit card that uses a discard mechanic, so I decided to explore this mechanic further with the M.E.A.T.S.A.C. Using discard abilities also helped compensate for the M.E.A.T.S.A.C. having a higher baseline of stats and abilities on its character sheet.

Some of those discard abilities are defensive.

And some are offensive.

In addition, I added a few cards that can make those discard abilities last a little longer.

The M.E.A.T.S.A.C. was a lot of fun to create, and it opens up a lot of new ways to construct the team of five commandos that take on Dr. Cronos and his horrific minions. LEVEL 7 [OMEGA PROTOCOL]: Extreme Prejudice is available in stores, so why not suit up and take it for a test drive?