infantry support weapon question

[FedComGirl]

I was wondering why their damage was so little in the board game but do more in the RPG?

Mechwarrior 3rd edition says that the Heavy SRM uses the same ammunition as vehicle and mech scale weapons and that each missile weighs 10kg. I know Mechwarrior 3 isn't totally valid anymore but the Standard Two-shot SRM Launcher's ammo is still 10kg per missile. That's the same weight as vehicle and mech SRM missiles but Time of War infantry SRMs have a third less range and only do a quarter of the damage- Half if fired from a vehicle (Except for the Heavy SRM which for some reason does less damage even though it weighs twice as much as the others.) Why is that? 

To complicate things even more Age of War infantry missiles more powerful than Time of War missiles but their damage is variable compared to the older RPG. They're more powerful against weaker armors but are still half as powerful as vehicle and mech launched SRMs when used against the strongest armor. Why is that? Not why is the damage variable between armors. That makes sense but why don't they do as much damage as vehicle/mech/battlearmor versions?

The question isn't limited to SRMs or support weapons though either. Mostly it is but since even an Age of War crossbow will penetrate light BAR armors, I'm a little confused. Why are weapons so weak in one game but more powerful in another?

I'm also wondering why the heavy SRM Launcher's missile does the least amount of damage even though its nearly twice as heavy as the others.

[HABeas2]

Hello,

The damage values given for infantry weapons in TechManual are the result of a mathematical conversion from basic RPG-scale damage values to Total Warfare scale damage. These formulas factor in the weapon's armor penetration and damage values, as well as their capacity to deliver burst-fire damage, splash damage effects (including those from "blast" weapons) and their ammunition capacity before reloading or weapon switching must be done. As a result, weapons that are otherwise quite powerful in the 5-second turns of RPG play, at a level where small arms and support ammunition are tracked at the character/trooper level become far less effective when they have smaller magazines and must be fired, then disassembled and reassembled or reloaded before they can fire again.

The formulas are designed also to abstract the effectiveness of massed infantry fire against targeted armored units, as it is highly unlikely that virtually any small arms can even dent a 'Mech's armor, especially since the shooters of such weapons are doing so while running, taking cover, and so forth--all without the benefit of the sophisticated targeting systems and myomer-enhanced stable mountings found on vehicular-mounted weapons. This is why the somewhat heavier versions of infantry support weapons carried on battlesuits wind up being as effective as BattleMech-carried weapons.

Damage delivered by small arms and support weapons in the role-playing game presuppose the damage delivered to other characters and creatures, which are softer and more prone to suffering debilitating effects even when "winged". To be effective against armored units or massed formations, infantry weapons need more make up in volume what they lack in power vs. 31st century armor and tactics. It is not merely a function of how heavy the missile is individually; after all, BattleTech was never a universe run by strict and thorough attention to the laws of physics.

What confuses me about your statement, however, is the reference to "Age of War" missiles. To what are you referring there?

Thank you,

- Herbert Beas
  BattleTech
  Catalyst Game Labs

[FedComGirl]

What confuses me about your statement, however, is the reference to "Age of War" missiles. To what are you referring there?

I'm sorry. I got my names and terms mixed up. I meant the SRMs in Time or War are more powerful than the Total Warfare missiles.

I do sort of understand what you're saying. At least when it comes to standard anti-personal weapons. Even massed together at point blank range they're not likely to damage a tank. However I would think support weapons would. That's why they were made after all. It almost sounds like instead of giving infantry bad target modifiers when they move, that you reduce the damage from the weapons. That seems backwards from everything else.

A SRM is still a SRM regardless of what fired it. Right? I would think it should do the same amount of damage. I do understand that if Infantry are moving that they won't have a lot of time to aim but the damage shouldn't change because of that. And what if the infantry unit is firing from behind cover? They're going to have a better chance of hitting the target. Why are their damage reduced then when they wouldn't have the targeting modifiers running infantry would? Or how motorized or mechanized? They're riding not running so aiming should be easier.

It's really confusing. The machine guns I can explain away as mounted versions having a much higher firing rate. Lasers I can say they fire longer but I'm stumped when it comes to single shot weapons like gauss and recoilless rifles and missiles, especially when the book says they're the same missle.

It's even more confusing when you consider that some of the Battle Armor ammo weighs less than the infantry versions.

For example
BA Machine Guns 0.1kg for 50 rounds
Infantry Light MG 2kg for 45 rounds.

All BA Machine guns can get 20 times the ammunition as the lightest Infantry Machine Gun and do at least twice as much damage. I know ammo isn't tracked for infantry but mounted on a small vehicle its even worse.  Mounted Light MGs won't even do 1 point of damage to BAR 2 armor even though they're firing heavier ammo.

And that's just going by the tables in Tech Manual. If I understood things right and my math was good Infantry weapons in Time of War are a lot more powerful, however their damage does vary so they're better against some armors and worse against others.

It's really confusing. A Infantry man with a cross bow can do 1 point of damage to BAR 2 armor in the RPG but in the board game a 4 ton vehicle mounting a Heavy SRM won't do any damage at all, even though the heavy SRM weights nearly twice as much as the standard and light SRMs. And their damage is only half that as regular mounted SRMs even though they're supposed to be the same.

It gives me a headache really. Can you please help me figure this out?

Thanks :)