This is actually copied from Classic BattleTech, but I think it will fit well in this game too.

If a player has at least twice as many unactivated units as the other person then they must activate two units on their turn instead of one.

If a player has at least three times as many unactivated units as the other person then they must activate three units on their turn instead of one.

For example:

Turn 1:

Side A: 5 Units left, move 1

Side B: 8 Units left, move 1

Turn 2:

Side A: 4 Units left, move 1

Side B: 7 Units left, move 1

Turn 3:

Side A: 3 Units left, move 1

Side B: 6 Units left, move 2

Turn 4:

Side A: 2 Units left, move 1

Side B: 4 Units left, move 2

Turn 5:

Side A: 1 Units left, move 1

Side B: 2 Units left, move 2

Seems a bit uneccessary, could even mean an advantage to the player with more units as he would be able to fire 2 units to your 1.

It's the traditional battle between having cheap units give one side extra activations for an advantage later in the turn, or having multiple attacks between activations for one side.

With DUST's level of lethality on attacks, I think allowing someone to buy lots of cheap but less effective units to gain an activation edge was a far wiser choice. Allowing multiple unanswered strong attacks early in the turn is much harsher than dealing with minor units knowing you have to adjust to multiple stronger units activating later in the turn.

Major Mishap said:

I'm looking at it as a way to reduce some of the advantage of having a block of moves after the other player can't move any more. It seems to me the looser is often whomever is forced into open first.

Grauenwolf said:

First strike and unanswered early turn strikes are frequently more important.

Having moves after your opponent is done can be used to protect units to the end of the turn, and allow a heavy strike then if your opponent isn't careful.

Being able to double up on unanswered strikes during the turn is more dangerous in DUST than in Battletech, because the lethality of the system means two units attacking are more likely to eliminate a unit before it activates. As it is, a unit can be hurt in an exchange, but still retain functionality when it is activated.

The waiting game of taking multiple cheap units to allow a strong finish for the turn is a gamble that has to be played well to work, or the weaker units simply become wasted points. Against a careful opponent, it isn't really an edge.