BattleTech Game Systems > A Time of War

The Role of Laser Rifles

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Lance Leader:
  One thing I've never been quite sure about is the role of laser rifles in Battletech.  In some sources it seems like they are the preferred weapon of snipers and in others they seem to take the role of a better general service rifle used by armies with deep pockets.  Any one have an idea what the niche is for laser rifles in Btech?  Canon references, educated guesses, and wild speculation are all welcome.

paladin2019:
It depends on when you are talking about in the publishing history. Prior to 1999's MW3e (FASA's last BT ruleset was 1998's Master Rules), lasers were just the all-around better option. MW3e changed the paradigm, making them better at single shot, long range fires but the automatic rifle (previously just "rifle") became the better option in all other circumstances. Any canon references outside MW RPGs will need to be validated against this change.

Lord greystroke:
Lasers could still work fine as a normal weapon hence the Mauser 960 and 1200 had PC's use both of those but both in 3rd edition had a decent burst fire a lot of the others as said mostly seem geared to long range sniper warfare were it was your margin that did the damage and as i remember most armour was pretty poor against lasers  as they had lots of PEN

Daryk:
The Mausers are leveraging laser range with Grenade Launcher damage.  Aside from that, Shrapnel #9 completely flipped the table (and is canon, last I checked).  There are now laser rifles (without underbarrel Grenade Launchers) that exceed the 0.60 damage cap for Standard weapons (thus granting the Heavy Burst special) with ranges WELL beyond ye olde 2/4/6 or even 3/6/9 of the Intek and clanner lasers.  These laser rifles ALSO have Succession War availability.  Infantry got quite the boost there, even beyond that provided by the Shrapnel #1 Sniper Rifles.  Of course, they're generally WAY more expensive than throwing a pair of Sniper Rifles into your otherwise bog-standard Rifle Squad... ;)

Maelwys:
They can be just about anything. Standard infantry weapon for groups that have access to them (Either tech or cash), or sniper rifle for assassins that are looking for something a bit more silent and with less recoil and greater range. There isn't really a niche for them, they can be used wherever.

Also the universe is so big that what may be niche in one area, isn't necessarily niche in another.

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