Am I being erased or is it because I dont ask and just give headpats?

top right especially

the other cat on it already won me over :P

wait why is graha pointing a gun at me?

10 year old me and my old dog would be pulling like crazy

happy bday canadacat

And of course enemy energy weapons can add heat to the frame as part of their effect

extra heat above 6 deals damage to the frame and after the first overheat a turn a mech can take no additional actions that turn, 1 heat is removed automatically base at the start of the turn, some components can be equipped to increase the cooling rate per turn.

my first idea is each mech frame has some heat capacity demoted on the card say 6, every turn each component equipped to the mech can be used once, and each activation generates heat depending on the card which is tracked with a d6.

Gives some agency as the player as well do you overexert out the gate and risk additional heat or play it conservatively and make sure you have leeway later to adapt, maybe see what the opponent is using and deploy component from the extra deck or hand and then burn your heat using the new card.

Part damage would certainly be a must, losing a limb or weapon is a huge part of the appeal of mech combat. Heat management could also be a core component. Shut down the opponent directly with damage or stun temporarily by overwhelming their heat capacity.