Thanks for the reply.
In my original project, I actually did that very same thing. The problem that I encountered was rendering time with all the alpha maps. I just really wanted to try the vertex map/bone option out and see it for myself, but thank you again for the suggestion. Do you happen to know how I can apply a vertex map to a bone, or even how to create a bone? I kinda want to UVs to warp...the environment I'm trying to create is sort of surreal so it might add a cool effect.