17 replies to this topic

[Woodstock]

According to TT rules.

[Gun Bear]

Depends on the 'mech.

Also depends on who you are.

If your the target: not enough; if your the attacker: too many.

[Gherrek]

Some mechs like the Bandersnatch mounted two and I belive the Grand Titan mounts two AMS as well. It all depends on how much you want to sacrifice firepower for protection. Remember you only get 12 shots with a ton of ammo and you fire off 2D6 shots with each missile barrage you intercept.

That and AMS ammo goes up like MG ammo when hit...

[Nikoliy]

found this on Sarna.net

"Only 1 AMS can engage 1 missile weapon in a turn, regardless of how many AMS cover the attack direction. If a unit mounts more than one AMS that covers the same attack direction, the defender chooses the order in which they activate and against which missile weapons they inflict their modifiers."
From this I would guess they will only allow one per mech. It would be nice to have the AMS cover your Lance mates. Im prety sure AMS does that in TT rules within a limited range. So maybe it can cover within a 30-50m radius around your mech.

[KingCobra]

Nik is correct i just want a MASC like in Mechwarrior 3 so i can outrun the missles.

[Blu C]

Nikoliy, on 10 June 2012 - 07:47 AM, said:

found this on Sarna.net

"Only 1 AMS can engage 1 missile weapon in a turn, regardless of how many AMS cover the attack direction. If a unit mounts more than one AMS that covers the same attack direction, the defender chooses the order in which they activate and against which missile weapons they inflict their modifiers."
From this I would guess they will only allow one per mech. It would be nice to have the AMS cover your Lance mates. Im prety sure AMS does that in TT rules within a limited range. So maybe it can cover within a 30-50m radius around your mech.

Incorrect. A 'Mech may mount as many AMS systems as it wants, however only 1 AMS may engage an incoming missile strike at a time. That does tend to make multi-AMS rather silly but there is nothing preventing you from doing it.

Realized I should probably mention WHY someone might want to run more than a single AMS on a 'Mech. Basically it comes down to damage tollerance. A lucky hit may disable your AMS, but if you have 2 then there is a backup to take up the slack.

Edited by Blu C, 10 June 2012 - 07:58 AM.

[Rodney28021]

Depends on how AMS is coded in MWO. I suggest only 1 AMS but more ammo. We'll have to see how the game plays.

[Banshee Bullet]

I don't know about TT but I would like think only one. HOWEVER, I would like it if you could increase the tonnage devoted to that system, thereby increasing its size and effectiveness.

[Nikoliy]

Blu C, on 10 June 2012 - 07:56 AM, said:

Incorrect. A 'Mech may mount as many AMS systems as it wants, however only 1 AMS may engage an incoming missile strike at a time. That does tend to make multi-AMS rather silly but there is nothing preventing you from doing it.

isnt that what i said???... The reason i said they will IMO limit it to one and maybe even limit it to the head(maybe torso) is that I think it would be hard for the devs to have to have difrent arcs for each system....

[Blu C]

Ah, I misunderstood. Sorry.

[Sychodemus]

In TT, multiple AMS can be very useful against certain opponents such as multiple points of Elementals or 'Mechs that carry more than one missile system or multiple opponents in general.
The most AMS on a canon design so far is three (Uller/KitFox C.) So, assuming that a Kit Fox was fired on by three separate missile attacks, the defender would apply one AMS against each one.

In MWO, multiple AMS can still work in a "first come, first served" basis; once one flight of missiles has been engaged by the first (priority) AMS, the remaining won't respond to it. This can be done automatically or with a toggle/panic switch. Also, if weapons have a set recharge rate, multiple AMS could be very handy.

[Daetrin Voltari]

Gherrek, on 10 June 2012 - 07:43 AM, said:

Remember you only get 12 shots with a ton of ammo and you fire off 2D6 shots with each missile barrage you intercept.

Actually, that hasn't been true since 2006. Total Warfare p.130 "1 shot of ammunition is marked off each time the AMS engages a missile weapon." Also AMS no longer takes out a variable number of missiles. It's a flat -4 to the cluster hits table for determining number of missiles that hit. It has made some mechs that have 2 and 3 tons of ammo for the AMS kind of ridiculous. Unless you are playing a long term campaign with no resupply. Then you might actually need 36 rounds of AMS fire, assuming you can live that long.

[Skylarr]

Nikoliy, on 10 June 2012 - 07:47 AM, said:

found this on Sarna.net

"Only 1 AMS can engage 1 missile weapon in a turn, regardless of how many AMS cover the attack direction. If a unit mounts more than one AMS that covers the same attack direction, the defender chooses the order in which they activate and against which missile weapons they inflict their modifiers."

As others have said you can multiple AMSs on a Mech. I would suggest not placing to many Laser AMSs on a mech as they generate 7 heat each.

Quote

From this I would guess they will only allow one per mech. It would be nice to have the AMS cover your Lance mates. Im prety sure AMS does that in TT rules within a limited range. So maybe it can cover within a 30-50m radius around your mech.

The AMS only covers the Mech it is on. It does not cover the Mech near it. In TT a Mech strategically controls a 30 meter area.








Anti-Missile System

Contents

Description

Introduced in 2617 by the Terran Hegemony, the anti-missile system is used to destroy missiles before they strike their target. This is accomplished by using a short ranged rapid firing weapon which shoots at the missiles. Because missiles in BattleTech are usually fired in salvos of up to forty at a time, anti-missile systems are rarely capable of destroying them all. Due to the loss of knowledge caused by the Succession Wars, anti-missile systems ceased to be produced by 2796. Only in 3040 did the Federated Commonwealth rediscover the means to produce this equipment. For the Clans, however, AMS never became LosTech, and by the time of the invasion had improved on the Star League version by replacing the solid slugs with flechettes, allowing for more ammunition per ton.

Laser versions of the anti-missile system exist, and benefit from having no ammunition requirement unlike regular systems. However they produce heat as a side effect of their use.


The LAMS (Laser AMS) can not only be mounted on BattleMechs, but also on vehicles. As its heat build-up is high, the vehicle must carry enough heat sinks to counter the higher output the LAMS produces (5 heat points for clan, 7 for inner sphere).
The LAMS is available to both Clan and Inner Sphere.

[village idiot]

You can mount as many AMS as you can find critical space for. Presuming you want a few tons of ammo, and dont mount anything else, you'll be able to crack 40 on a 'Mech easy.

There's some utility for multiple AMS. Each one can only engage one hostile missile weapon, so even on, say, an Archer, a single ASM would only degrade one of its LRM-20s.

As others have noted, the AMS rules changed (IMO, improved) in Total Warfare: 1 ammo use per salvo, and the targeted missile weapon rolls with a -4 penalty on its Cluster table to determine how many missiles hit. (results less than 2 count at if it was a 2)

AMS cannot cover any other friendly targets.

No idea what shape it'll take in MWO.

[Incunabulum]

Nikoliy, on 10 June 2012 - 07:47 AM, said:

found this on Sarna.net

"Only 1 AMS can engage 1 missile weapon in a turn, regardless of how many AMS cover the attack direction. If a unit mounts more than one AMS that covers the same attack direction, the defender chooses the order in which they activate and against which missile weapons they inflict their modifiers."
From this I would guess they will only allow one per mech. It would be nice to have the AMS cover your Lance mates. Im prety sure AMS does that in TT rules within a limited range. So maybe it can cover within a 30-50m radius around your mech.

You can mount as many as you have space/mass for.

You can only attack once with each AMS and each AMS can only attack one salvo. ie if someone fires 2 LRM-5's at you and you have one AMS then you can select which of the two LRM flights it will engage. To engage both you'd need 2 AMS.

Also TT rules don't allow AMS to attack missiles that aren't aimed at the mech the AMS is mounted on.

Both these rules really cut down on the usefulness of AMS in TT to just something you mount if you have mass you don't have any other use for instead of making desireable to mount on everything you could possibly put it on.

[Ogre Magi]

it should also be know Clan AMS systems have twice the number of shots per ton of ammo. the Laser AMS is a advanced ( Optional) rule but it makes heat when in use. Me well depending on how the missles are coded AMS may be useful, but until its OPERATIONAL its a moot point.

[Youngblood]

To put precedence on a canon 'Mech design with multiple Anti-Missile systems, I present to you...

The Komodo.

[MadMarauder]

Komodo's are just mean!!!