21 replies to this topic

[Koniving]

Throe, on 25 October 2018 - 11:55 AM, said:

It seems likely that the only method of allowing an ICE to power a PPC(power amplifiers) involves so much time to simply power up the PPC, that heat from firing it simply isn't a consideration, since you can't fire it often enough for the heat to build up to levels which would cause any problems.

That would be a logical...real-time/realistic conclusion. Solaris rules completely ignore even the possibility of ICE in a 2.5 second turn cycle so there is no true breakdown or clause for them. My personal ruleset covers them as it covers weapon heat as a separate entity. But officially nothing appears to break it down. The logical follow-up would be slower frequency of fire but that issue is true with vehicles due to how weapons mount and limitations of firing arcs.

[Karl Streiger]

Well ok when you consider Solaris rules the answer is simple.
In comparison to the battlemech all systems are not redundant and can not be used dynamically.
Makes sense you don't want to sit below several pipes with hot acid.
So the vehicle weapons are closed cycle.

All energy weapons are reduced to a manufacturer specific firing cooldown.
The power amplifier could are capacitors that could be one use (fire remove - great heat sink) or can be reloaded over time.
The heat of the weapons charging and discharging mechanism is directly coupled with the already existing mechanism.

This results in a higher energy output when a vehicle weapon is fired but also results in a lower cycle time.

For fusion driven vehicles it's exactly the same thing. Take for example the shreck. Lets consider that 30% of the weapons heat is the reloading/charging there go your 10 free fusion heatsinks. The other heat is dissipated directly at the gun (the barrel might be housed on cooling jacket that reaches several hundred or even thousand Kelvin.
Additional heatsinks help to keep the surrounding of the guns at a manageable level. Doesn't mean that no heat can blend into the vehicle.
(Not lore:)
Vehicle heat sinks in comparison to Mech heatsinks can "store" a lot of heat but are directly linked with the gun its impossible to replace the heatsinks from a condor with those of a drillson.
In Solaris rules spoke weapon fire only generate a quarter of their heat but those for the next four rounds.
Vehicle weapons do more damage per shot (20%-50%) but are limited to 1 shot per 4 rounds, a override can be possible but the destrucrtionof the gun is mandatory even if the weapon missfires)