Merchant of Venus the Ameritrash way!

I posted about the combat rules and some possible variants for Merchant of Venus and got absolutelly no response. And I was surprised as this is after all an Ameritrash site, so it doesn't seem so crazy to think people here would be interested in making this game a bit more confrontational... I mean, I can understand some people liking the streamlined nature of MoV (notice how it's classified as "strategy" on BGG instead of "Thematic") but I don't know... I do love the game as it is, but why not spice it up a little?

Anyway, I've since tried the rules a couple of times, with a few tweaks here and there, and am happy to report that our latest game was a blast

First, this variant adds a few more things you can do during the game. There's smuggling (with a risk of losing your cargo and getting a bounty on your head). There's bounty hunting (attack players that have a bounty and get money) and there are missions (go to the base and get a target on a random system which you have to destroy for money

Most of the stuff that's added is related to combat, so basically this variant adds more options for players that choose to get armed. That's mainly because the combat rules alone don't really give players the option of gaining money through combat and I think missions do help in this regard. Bounty hunting is similar in a way, as it gives you a bigger reason to go after another player. You'll not only hurt them, but also get some profit (as long as they have a bounty, of course...

Then, there's smuggling... It's pretty tempting to get that 50% bonus but it may mean losing your cargo. You can prepare your ship for speed which will make it easier to get through customs, but if you fail, you'll get a bounty on your head and become a juicy target for other players.

In our last game, my gf tried to sell some illegal goods and failed. She got a 300$ bounty (the buying value of the goods) so after I got armed and thanks to a combi drive and a jump start relic, I didn't have much trouble tracking her. I destroyed one of her relics and managed to gain 220$ (it's value) from her bount

I also did manage to make some missions which while not too lucrative, helps, especially if you combine the trip there with trading.

Smuggling was pretty great with a fast ship, especially when Psychotic Sculptures turned up (system 10 was right near a telegate). And even though I had only 1 cargo hold free, I managed to win in the en

To be fair, my gf tried going for the freighter strategy and we were playing up to 2000$ so it was pretty hard. I also got very lucky with the jump start and the tele-gates. I could go quickly to the base (to get new missions) and to systems 10, 4a, and 1b. As smuggling is done on the 4th system from the one you buy, going fast from 10 to 4a was very lucrative.

So, I'm having fun tweaking the game and making it more "Elite-like". It doesn't mean I'll stop playing the regular game (my gf doesn't like combat as much as I do) but I think it is a fun new way to play the game. It feels thematic. It doesn't really add a lot of rules and the few that are added don't need any extras (maybe a few markers of the player's color, but we used spaceports and had no problem

So, to all the naysayers (I was told on BGG "not to destroy this game") I say: I'm having fun! :p