adamts01, on 19 December 2015 - 12:47 PM, said:
That doesn't help.... Please tell me what it's all about in "lore". I know what a shotgun is, and I hear it always referred to as such, so that's what I'm going off of.
Edit: People always talk about slug ammo and such. Then it would turn in to just another AC. I like the Idea of a shotgun in game. Not an AC that damages like a PPC. Not to mention, shooting right between the legs at 100m would be a total miss with your system..... that's not cool.
"This weapon is closely related to the common AC/10. The design of the LB 10-X uses several types of lightweight, rapid-heat-dissipation alloys. Though this makes the weapon costlier, its lighter weight and need for fewer heat sinks easily makes up for the expense. Another important feature of the LB 10-X is its Mercury-IV fire control equipment. This electronic system gives the cannon a better hit probability at all ranges, as well as extending its maximum effective range by 20 percent.
In addition to firing standard Dual-Purpose Armor-Defeating Rounds, the weapon may also fire a special Cluster Round that acts much like an anti-BattleMech shotgun. After being fired, the round breaks up into several smaller submunitions. This improves the chance of striking a critical location on the target, but also reduces the overall damage done and spreads it out over the entire target area rather than concentrating it in one location."
(
Technical Readout: 2750, pg. 08)
"An improvement over the common autocannon, the LB-X makes use lf light, heat-dissipating alloys to reduce weight and heat buildup. These materials make the weapon more expensive than the standard autocannon, but its advantages outweigh the higher cost."
"The LB-X autocannon can fire cluster munitions, which act like an anti-BattleMech shotgun in combat. When fired, the ammunition fragments into several smaller submunitions. This improves the attacker’s chances of striking a critical location but disperses total damage by spreading hits over the target area rather than concentrating the damage on one location. Cluster munitions can be used only in LB-X autocannon, not in standard or Ultra autocannon types."
(
Classic BattleTech Master Rules (Revised), pg. 132)
"An improvement on the common autocannon intended to expand the weapon’s role into anti-vehicle and anti-infantry work, the LB-X makes use of light, heat-dissipating alloys to reduce its weight and thermal buildup. These materials, coupled with a smooth-bore, multi-munition feed mechanism, make the LB more expensive than standard autocannons. However, the slight range increase and the ability to switch between standard-style bursts and explosive cluster munitions - both specially developed for this weapon system - more than mitigate this higher cost."
(
TechManual, pg. 207)
"At first, the Star League regarded the autocannon as a technological stopping point, with little reason to improve the design any further. With the continued spread of BattleMech technology, and the crucible of the Reunification War, Star League researchers on Terra began development on new autocannon technology in 2595 with the LB 10-X autocannon under the project name CROATOAN. A highly advanced weapon system, the LB-X could switch between ammunition like standard autocannon rounds or fire a shotgun style round that would split into hundreds of explosive sub-munitions. This style of submunition was particularly effective against vehicles, but also proved effective for short-range anti-aircraft flak, and for dispersing attacking infantry."
(
Era Report: 2750, pg. 98)
"This LBX autocannon has Cluster loads."
"Shotgun shells. It'll sand all the armor off a foe."
(Natasha Kerensky to Phelan Kell,
Blood Legacy, chapter 19)
There are more examples, but that should get the gist of it across.
Basically: the LB-X autocannon family in BT lore/canon is notable for its inclusion of the Mercury-IV FCS (a
fire control system built into the gun itself that interfaces with the 'Mech's main
targeting and tracking systems; the Mercury IV FCS is the component to which the increased effective range of the LB-X family is attributed), and its inclusion of a dual-feed system that allows it to switch between a burst of
high-explosive armor-piercing shells (which, despite the appellation used when referring to the LB-X, are not
true slugs like
those fired by real-world shotguns) and
shotshell-like
canister rounds filled with explosive bomblet/grenade-like submunitions.
7
