17 replies to this topic

[Dmitri Valenov]

Quick question. Does AMS work against short range missiles? I'm pretty sure they do in the TT game and SRMs seem to trigger the AMS system, but I never see them actually destroy any missiles.

I'm kinda curious as to how an AMS would affect a Streak or SRM 6 boat. If AMS doesn't work against SRMs, they really should. That little fix would have probably stopped the tsunami of whining about Streakapults/Streakmandos/Streakwhatevers that happened not all that long ago.

Anyone got an answer?

[Tetatae Squawkins]

AMS does work against SRMs and SSRMs.


At close range it will do very little against an SRM boat. It is most effective in light v light streak battles.

[Dmitri Valenov]

So they do work, just not very well as most of the mechs mounting SRMs/Streaks tend to get right up in your face. Good to know, thank you. I didn't see Thomas' post on the search.

[Buzzkillin]

I noticed the AMS will shoot at srms but they are so fast it doesn't react in time unless you are at the max srm distance.

[Kyone Akashi]

crabcakes66, on 11 February 2013 - 11:58 AM, said:

It is most effective in light v light streak battles.

Light v Light Streak battles happen way below the minimum range for effective AMS use.

AMS versus SRM/SSRM only helps if you are running away, as the missiles cannot close the distance between launcher and target as fast, meaning the AMS has more time to shoot down incoming projectiles. Since Lights can easily keep up with other Lights, running away tends to be useless unless there is nearby cover (at which point AMS is useless) or teammates. In this situation, I suppose AMS could shoot down a single missile.
Against a relatively stationary Catapult, however ... I think the result could be two to even three missiles. Merely a fraction of the incoming barrage, of course, but still helpful.

The most effective use of AMS remains against slow LRMs.

[GODzillaGSPB]

Wait...it really workd against srms? Normal short range missiles? I've never seen that, and I have a Hunchback 4SP on Master...

[Nicholas Carlyle]

I've noticed it's very, very spotty against SRM's. If someone is crazy enough to let loose at 270m. You'll catch a few with AMS. Under 100m, it's more wishful thinking.

[Tetatae Squawkins]

Kyone Akashi, on 11 February 2013 - 12:19 PM, said:

Light v Light Streak battles happen way below the minimum range for effective AMS use.


The most effective use of AMS remains against slow LRMs.

This is not true in my experience. Stopping even 1 or 2 SSRM out of a salvo of 4 missiles is a significant benefit. It can mean the difference between winning or losing that fight.


And against LRMs you are stating the obvious. Remember the context of the thread.

[Nathan Foxbane]

GODzillaGSPB, on 11 February 2013 - 12:21 PM, said:

Wait...it really workd against srms? Normal short range missiles? I've never seen that, and I have a Hunchback 4SP on Master...

Yes it does. But it shoots down one if you are super lucky, otherwise it just wastes your AMS ammo.

[Kyone Akashi]

crabcakes66, on 11 February 2013 - 12:25 PM, said:

This is not true in my experience. Stopping even 1 or 2 SSRM out of a salvo of 4 missiles is a significant benefit. It can mean the difference between winning or losing that fight.

A salvo of 4 implies you're being chased by a 3L, which means both 'Mechs are at "knife fight" distance below 100 meters.

As per a devpost, AMS shoots down 1 missile about every 0.5 sec.
SRM/SSRM take 0.5 sec to travel 100 meters.
Conclusion: forget about AMS when the launcher is circling you with a distance of ~50-75 meters.

If the enemy is chasing you, the distance may be greater than 100m, but then you are not "fighting" anyways. You will take less damage, but still be worse off than your opponent. Who is still chasing you. Your only chance is to lose him in the terrain, or have your team help you out.

Edited by Kyone Akashi, 11 February 2013 - 12:32 PM.

[Vapor Trail]

According to info I've seen on the forums, they are supposed to affect SRMs...

That said, the most you'll ever see shot down out of a volley of SRMs (say you empty a SRMcat 36 missiles in one volley...) by a single AMS is a single missile.

Yep. ONE SRM shot down by a single AMS at maximum range. With launch ranges under 100m it's a waste of ammo.

Just for illustration, it would take an entire battalion's worth of AMS (36 mechs, assuming 1 AMS per mech) to shoot down an entire volley from an SRMcat @ 100m. At max AMS range (180m) the figure drops to simply five lances (20 mechs).

Guess it could be defined as an "Anti-Missile(singular) System."

[Kyone Akashi]

Personally, I would recommend it for every larger 'Mech out there, as slow-moving models will be prime targets for LRMs. On Light 'Mechs on the other hand it is more or less a waste of tonnage - unless you intend to run mobile AA for your team. Did that with a JR7-F whilst grinding Mech XP and it worked nicely for a different kind of support.

[Nicholas Carlyle]

I still feel like this is a fundamental flaw with ECM. When you take ECM 1.5 tons, and AMS 1.5 tons (with limited ammo); ECM is MUCH better at protecting you from missiles, and it's just one of about 8 other things it does.

If they don't want to nerf ECM, they need to look at buffing AMS to make it do it's job.

[Mazzyplz]

they do work but you have to realize:

-srms only have 200 or so meters to travel and thus be destroyed (whereas the ams will start shooting lrm at about 400-500 mts)
-srms are faster than lrms and so less time to shoot them
-srms don't launch 15 in 3 rows of 5 in the shape of an arc, they basically just come out as a single cloud of missiles

so AMS will end up destroying 1, 2 if lucky.

[Rakashan]

Actually, effective range of an AMS system is 200m.

The reason it is more effective against LRMs than SRMs is that SRMs have more hps. The quote was an exerpt of a more complete post which shows that SRMs have 2 hps and therefore a single AMS system takes out one missile at 200m. Essentially, you get 1 SRM missile if you are running away from the shooter at 200+m. You can get both SSRM missiles if you are moving away from shooter (essentially making the missiles travel more than 200m).

As pointed out above though... Boating SRMs means a lot less than 1/6 missiles get taken out of a typical incoming volley.

Edit: posted the mea culpa below.

Edited by Rakashan, 11 February 2013 - 01:17 PM.

[Kyone Akashi]

Wasn't the original post that only Narc has 2 hp so far?

[Kyone Akashi]

Whew, thought my memory would betray me!

Also, found the original thread: http://mwomercs.com/...6-ams-and-ssrm/
posts #5 and #8

Edited by Kyone Akashi, 11 February 2013 - 01:02 PM.

[Rakashan]

Sorry, I remembered the NARC comment for more hps and misapplied it. It's missile speed, not hps as someone else has already mentioned.