Well, from a balance perspective, this construction means the Battlebabe loses Impossible Reflexes in some situations that they wouldn't lose conventional armor, after all if he's somehow immobilized, his reflexes aren't gonna help him out at all, just for example.

People sleep with the hard-holder because they get things, not because they love him or even like him. It's a shallow vestige. People sleep with the skinner because the skinner tells them to, because they have to, because the skinner controls their desires when they're around him/her. The brainer sleeps with people because he can get into their heads. The driver sleeps with people because he's starting to settle down, and then might spin out of control and freak out thinking about all the freedoms that might be gone. These motivations should be in character, whereas, people sleep with the battlebabe because they want to, because there is no pressure, because they dont have to pay her, because she doesn't ask them to marry her. She's free to move and be with whoever she wants to.

I think this is a bit too simplistic. Very few of these are remotely the only reason people sleep with the character in question, or the only reason they sleep with people. It's way more complicated than that. Firstly, the characters are all fucking hot and that's enough reason to sleep with them right there, and secondly, they're people with emotions that can very much become engaged in regards to something like this. No, the reasons people sleep with another PC can just easily have to do with the character's interpersonal relationship or dynamic, or their libido, as they do with their own special move or that of the person they're sleeping with.

That said, I do agree that they are real in-world things and need to be taken into account. Yeah, the barter isn't the only reason people sleep with a Hardholder, but nobody turns it down, and the Hardholder is always gonna wonder if that's why people are sleeping with them, if it's just for the barter, just because of their wealth and power. It's not always true, but it's a concern. Except the Battlebabe, if they sleep with the Hardholder, the Hardholder knows it's because they wanted to. No other reason at all.

Oh, The Show can definitely be a barter-sink, too. But the thing is, they're actually strongly incentivized to obey whoever has their leash under at least some circumstances, and you only need to get them to pander once to pay for two or three sessions of even their most exorbitant expenditures (10 Barter is amazing).

A high Hot Show also doesn't mind pandering occasionally all that much (especially if their leash-holder is willing to aid them), and most Shows should get high Hot fairly quick.

The Show certainly can go down a path of destruction for everyone around them, but if they do, their leash-holder is very unlikely to want to keep them around, and that will generally result in them switching to a new one...and if they piss that one off too, then another, and so on until they've been through everyone. At that point, the incentive to kill The Show becomes very real, and with all the PCs in on it (or at least the minimum of two they've been bouncing between), they likely succeed. PCs, IME, are pretty willing to end a situation that's costing them 3 Barter a session for no benefit.

On the other hand, if The Show is reasonable and willing to do an occasional bit of pandering, they can easily maintain an excellent relationship with whoever holds their leash. And the better that relationship is, the more freedom of action the show possesses. It's possible for The Show to be indispensable without ever pandering, I suppose, but it's difficult.

No problem, I'm happy to be of assistance. :)

The game I've been running for the last few months has a Maestro'D as one of the main characters, and she has a fairly high level of reluctance to leave her establishment, so it's definitely an issue I've had to consider how to deal with. I think I've been pretty successful at doing so, simply by making her establishment sorta the center of a lot of the action, but it's definitely something an MC needs to put some thought and effort into.

I dunno, having a reasonable authority figure seems pretty workable to me. My current game has a couple, and that's worked out fine. The key, when dealing with the existence of such figures, is twofold:

1: Remember that 'friendly, reasonable, and likes the PCs' does not mean they aren't a threat.

For example, a Warlord (Dictator) can be nice as pie as long as you acknowledge their authority and do what they say. Of course, what they do to people who don't acknowledge their authority might not bear too much thinking on...and they're likely to make demands of the PCs to boot. Asking the PCs to go fight in a war for you is every bit as much of a threat to them as attacking them, demanding that they pay taxes is every bit as much a threat as stealing from them, and requiring that they follow laws is not exactly non-threatening either.

For another example from my most recent game, one of my PCs took a lover, a member of her gang who was utterly devoted to her (and part of her gang's Threat-type as a Family). Loyal beyond reason and willing to do anything for her. The PC had to restrain her from killing anyone who looked at her sideways. She killed several people the PC didn't want, as well as almost killing many more. Love and devotion don't make someone not a threat to peace, stability, and other things.

2: External and internal threats other than the leader. If the PCs want a reasonable leader, more power to them. But that doesn't mean anyone else does. Usurpers, enemy warlords, the relatives of the people she killed to get the job might easily feel the need to be rid of her, and take steps in that direction. Everyone wants a piece of the hardholder...and if the hardholder is an NPC, they're very fragile since you're looking at them through crosshairs, so they'll likely need the aid of the PCs to protect their position or they'll lose it and die. Having the PCs desperately try and prop up a particular status quo in Apocalypse World, despite the nature of the world fighting that idea, is an excellent source of plot and drama.

Honestly, I'd probably have an actual tank take damage like a building rather than a vehicle and otherwise seriously violate the default vehicle rules. Those are designed for semi-improvised 'war vehicles' in the sense of 'Fury Road', rather than the kind of thing modern militaries use.

1. I don't think so in your game specifically. I mean, the Move is interesting and advantageous in some games, but since people aren't finding it that way in yours, I'd say swapping it out (or figuring out another option) is valid.

2. My first thought for an alternate option from an existing playbook is actually The Show, whose Special Move is: "If you and another character have sex, sweet." That preserves some of the Battlebabe's vibe, in that sex isn't inherently meaningful (not with NPCs anyway) without being too powerful or making people feel bad that their Move doesn't trigger. Or, alternately, to emphasize their hypnotic beauty, give them only the 'auto-hypnotize' option from Skinner (that still leaves Skinners with several more options than them).

3. That's an interesting option, I suppose, but a very different vibe from the default, and perhaps too powerful. My inclination if going with something other than an existing special move would be to have the Battlebabe move still be basically the same, but with them having the ability to turn it on or off at will. So they can make the Driver not freak out, or the Skinner not hypnotize them, but can also get the benefits of having sex with the Gunlugger or Hardholder.

One solution I'd definitely apply when it comes up, is to have their Special Move change when they switch playbooks (which characters do sorta inevitably do). The Battlebabe in my current game just switched to The News as a new playbook, and the Special Move switch was pretty cool as an indication of that. He's starting to be more open with his emotions and intentions, which is very character-appropriate given that particular character's life and goals.