BlackDeathLegion, on 06 November 2013 - 12:53 PM, said:
i know about Mech Mortars, but they are labeled as "MISSLE WEAPONS" not ballistic. I agree with using Mortars as "Ballistic" to fill in the gap between MG & AC/2...
Indeed - Mech Mortars are missile weapons that serve as an alternative to LRMs; basically, they trade volume of fire (fewer projectiles per salvo)
and raw damage output (the decrease in projectiles/salvo outstrips the increased damage per projectile)
and battlefield longevity (fewer salvos per ton) for immunity to AMS.
Strum Wealh, on 25 September 2013 - 03:56 PM, said:
The additional ballistic weapons that could be available at the point at which MWO is currently set (that is, circa 3050) are:
- the Silver Bullet Gauss Rifle (R&D Start Date: 3050 (Federated Commonwealth), Prototype Design and Production: 3051 (Federated Commonwealth) - TacOps, pg. 314),
- the light/medium/heavy Rifles (essentially modern real-world tank cannons, and mainly used by Periphery forces that can't afford Autocannons - TacOps, pg. 338; they would need a +1 or +2 damage boost to be workable),
- the Sniper & Thumper artillery cannons (available from the Lyran Commonwealth since 3012 - TacOps, pg. 285),
- the Vehicle Flamer (consumes flammable ammo rather than venting plasma from a Fusion Engine), and
- the Vehicular Grenade Launcher (weigh 0.5 tons; see TacOps, pgs. 314-315 & 363-364 (for munition types)).
The
Light Autocannons (available in
LAC/2 and
LAC/5 variations only) trade range for weight (that is, they have a shorter effective range than their standard counterparts), but are not available until until 3068 (with the R&D for them not starting until around 3058).
"After spending nearly a decade in the prototype stages - long enough to actually give rise to the rotary AC - Light Autocannons (abbreviated as LACs) only hit full-scale production with the unveiling of Yeffters Weapons’ Mydron Flyswatter and Mydron Snakekiller models in 3068." -
TechManual, pg. 207
The IS versions of the
LB 2-X and
LB 5-X are the same weights as their standard counterparts (6.0 tons and 8.0 tons, respectively), and neither is available until 3058 (after being reverse-engineered from captured Clan-built examples).
The
Light Machine Gun and
Heavy Machine Gun are developed bu the Clan Smoke Jaguar around the late 3050s (immediately prior to being destroyed by the IS), and IS versions are not available until 3068.
R&D for
the BattleMech-scale Magshot (a MG-scale mini Gauss Rifle) doesn't begin until after 3060 (with the introduction of the
Infiltrator Mk.II Battle Armor), and the weapon itself isn't available until 3072.
The
Light Gauss Rifle isn't available until 3056, and was developed as a response to the Clans' version of the Gauss Rifle.
"The Light Gauss Rifle was born as a joint project by Imperator Automatic Weaponry of Atreus and Corean Enterprises of Stewart. Sponsored personally by Captain-General Thomas Marik, their efforts were aimed at duplicating the lightweight construction of the Clan Gauss rifle system for use by Free Worlds League Military forces." -
TechManual, pg. 219
The VGL in BT is a single-shot weapon, so PGI would have to decide how much ammo per ton it would get and what its recycle time should be, assuming they decide to implement it in the first place.
IMO, the specs for a MWO VGL would be:
Grenade Launcher- 0.5 tons
- 1 critical
- 0.38 damage/grenade, 1 grenade per shot
- 0.13 heat/shot
- 0.25 second recycle time
- weapon speed: 100 m/s
- 1000 shots per ton of ammo
- maximum range of 90 meters
The damage/shot and recycle time together give it a ~50% DPS increase over the MG (to ~1.50 DPS) & it has the same weapon speed as the MG, but it has a shorter maximum range (3x the TT max range)
and it runs hotter than the MG (~0.50 HPS)
and has 50% less ammo per ton than the MG (the proposed ammo per ton assumes a 1 kg (~2.2 lbs) anti-vehicle grenade)
and it self-detonates at its maximum range (like missiles).
IMO, this is enough to make the VGL a
viable alternative to the MG without becoming a
replacement for the MG.
Then there are the Rifles, which serve as cheap alternatives to the ACs.
- Light Rifle: 3 tons, 1 critical, 3 damage/shot, 1 heat/shot, 18 shots per ton of ammo, range of 360 meters
- Medium Rifle: 5 tons, 2 criticals, 6 damage/shot, 2 heat/shot, 9 shots per ton of ammo, range of 450 meters
- Heavy Rifle: 8 tons, 3 criticals, 9 damage/shot, 4 heat/shot, 6 shots per ton of ammo, range of 540 meters
The Rifles technically exist at this point in the timeline (though, they are rare within the Inner Sphere due to being considered generally obsolete).
However, the canonical BT rules call for the Rifles to subtract 3 units from their damage/shot when used against anything that isn't infantry or civilian vehicles (which lowers the Rifles' damage to 0, 3, and 6, respectively), and they cannot make use of
the ACs' special munitions.
IMO, PGI could change the damage reduction to a 50% reduction rather than going by number of damage points & give them the same recycle time as the same-step AC (with LR = AC/2, MR = AC/5, and HR = AC/10) & give them the same weapon speed as the reverse-step AC if they were to implement the Rifles. What it would look like then is:
Light Rifle- 3 tons
- 1 critical
- 1.5 damage/shot
- 1 heat/shot
- 0.52 second recycle time
- weapon speed: 900 m/s
- 27 shots per ton of ammo
- optimal range of 360 meters
- maximum range of 1080 meters
Medium Rifle- 5 tons
- 2 critical
- 3 damage/shot
- 2 heat/shot
- 1.50 second recycle time
- weapon speed: 1100 m/s
- 14 shots per ton of ammo
- optimal range of 450 meters
- maximum range of 1350 meters
Heavy Rifle- 8 tons
- 3 critical
- 4.5 damage/shot
- 4 heat/shot
- 2.5 second recycle time
- weapon speed: 1300 m/s
- 9 shots per ton of ammo
- optimal range of 540 meters
- maximum range of 1620 meters
Thoughts?
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