27 replies to this topic

[Death Mallet]

Autocannons are rapid fire weapons fired in short bursts:

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Autocannon

http://en.wikipedia....tic_cannon_2A42


Please make the game SFX reflect that.

[Paingod]

What if they just call them autoloading cannons? You could even shorten it to be 'autocannon'.

... wait...

[Death Mallet]

. . . As differentiated from a "non-autocannon" which would be a manually loaded mech weapon that you must get out and reload after each shot? Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense. The battlefield is littered with those. Technically if you wanted one of those it would use the One-Shot label that already exists.

In addition to the "auto-loading cannon" idea being ridiculous. . . 'Canon' (heh) states that mech 'autocannons' are just like autocannons in real life.

The game should reflect that.

[Paingod]

I... you know what, I concede. You have made interesting points, with a remarkable brand of logic one could call... 'remarkable'. I cannot match that. Or even keep track of it.

Alright devs, you heard the man! Disregard the canon of BT TT, and make it more like MW4! Chop chop!

[Death Mallet]

Battletech tabletop says autocannons are rapid fire too. So do the novels.

There may have been some johhny-come-lately tabletop rulebook that says otherwise because its author didn't know crap about weapon systems or battletech history. . . but even back to when I first got started playing BT TT around 1991 autocannons were actual autocannons.

[Noth]

Death Mallet, on 20 June 2012 - 08:04 AM, said:

Battletech tabletop says autocannons are rapid fire too. So do the novels.

There may have been some johhny-come-lately tabletop rulebook that says otherwise because its author didn't know crap about weapon systems or battletech history. . . but even back to when I first got started playing BT TT around 1991 autocannons were actual autocannons.

It depends on the size an make of the autocannon. There have been both single shot and burst fire auto cannons. AC/5 are already burst firing in the game. It makes little sense for a 203mm AC/20 (what is on the hunchback) to fire at the same rate as a 90mm AC/5.

There are also gameplay standpoints to take into effect. Making heavy autocannons single shot makes them a front load of damage compared to laser that do damage over time. It makes the weapon unique

[Mechwarrior Buddah]

Thats what Ultra Autocannons are lol

[RedDragon]

Noth, on 20 June 2012 - 09:03 AM, said:

There have been both single shot and burst fire auto cannons.

I read this all the time and I'm always wondering about the truth of it. Does anyone in fact have a traceable citation for a single-shot AC in canon (novels, TROs, rulebooks)?

[Alizabeth Aijou]

Quote

I read this all the time and I'm always wondering about the truth of it. Does anyone in fact have a traceable citation for a single-shot AC in canon (novels, TROs, rulebooks)?

Not on a quick search, at least.
Although one could come up with a single-shot 500mm autocannon, it'd be pushing things.

[Bobfrombobtown]

In BattleTech not all ACs are rapid fire. It's a generic term for a large category of weapons.

Link:http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Autocannon

[Damascas]

They are all automatic, not all are rapid fire though, like the Demolishers monstrous 185mm AC. Some fire so slow to pretty much be considered manual fire almost while others are burst fire and others do fire very rapidly.

[Lightdragon]

if they did that... what would they do to distinguish the rac from the regular ac

[Mechwarrior Buddah]

I thought Ultra ACs were the rapid fire ones

[Fire for Effect]

baaaad idea since you have keep the gun trained 10 seconds on the enemy, instead of one shot and 10 second reload time.

thinks for yourself what you want... by the way

Autocannon just means that it has an automatic reload mechanism it does not implay any rate of fire. What you mean are rotary autocannons.

[Bobfrombobtown]

514yer, on 01 July 2012 - 10:18 AM, said:

I thought Ultra ACs were the rapid fire ones

They are more rapid fire than a standard AC. (They fire twice as fast.)
Link: http://www.sarna.net...ltra_Autocannon
Rotary ACs just fire even faster
Link: http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Rotary_A/C

[Skoll Lokeson]

Not taking a stand here just quoting BT 3rd Editon rule book: Weapons of the Succession Wars [...] Equipped with weapons firing charged particle beams, lasers, rapid-fire autocannons and missiles, 'Mechs carry enough firepower to flatten anything but another 'Mech. [...] Battletech 3rd edition p. 49. (Fasa, 1992)

According to this: Rapid-fire AC were standard weapons on Succession War 'Mechs. The 3rd Editon Rulebook consistently refers to ACs as "rapid-firing" (p. 49, p. 51) This rule book includes AC/2, 5, 10, 20 unlike some earlier editon which I think only contained the AC/5, just called "Autocannon". It's very possible that the Fluff hasn't been updated.

Based on this I would say that the standard 'regular' ACs are definitely rapid-fire but not necessarly all models. One could also argue that AC/2s, 10s and 20s arn't standard, but that might be a bit of a stretch.

Any other sources to confirm or contradict? Just to clarify what the canon is.

[Chunkymonkey]

I already made a thread on this. Go look around and search first before posting.

[RedDragon]

Chunkymonkey, on 01 July 2012 - 12:21 PM, said:

I already made a thread on this. Go look around and search first before posting.

Ironic. We already had a thread (and even a poll!) about it before you posted yours, too
http://mwomercs.com/...for-firing-acs/

[Chunkymonkey]

true enough

Wrong smiley, heres the right one


No thats not it either...hmmmm , aha!

Edited by Chunkymonkey, 01 July 2012 - 01:42 PM.

[Nathan Rochard]

I liked the way ACs were handled in MW3. They all felt right to me.