"New" Autocannon 15 family of weapons

[WeaponX]

Personally I don't know why the powers that be skipped the 15 damage bracket for the Autocannon series, and I don't know if someone else has tried rectifying this oversight over the years.  In any event, here's my attempt at trying to fit the Autocannon 15 family of weapons into the broader AC family, which was actually quite hard as they seem to have just chosen arbitrary numbers to take the jump from say the number of crits of the LB 10-X to the LB 20-X, so simply taking the most obvious numerical sequence or even just the median number between the two wasn't really an option:

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   The AC/15 Series
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Concieved by Clan Diamond Shark as the next evolution of their recently developed Ultra AC/10, the Ultra AC/15 project actually reached the prototype stage, but was mothballed indefinately due to the development of the Ultra AC/20 by Clan Steel Viper.  It wasn't until the Clan Invasion of the 3050s that the Ultra AC/15 project was finally revisited, during the Clans' quest for new weapons for use against the Inner Sphere.  Once the Ultra AC/15 finally reached mass production, it was inevitable that an LB 15-X version was also developed and mass produced.  From there, samples of the Clan AC/15 series eventually reached the Inner Sphere, and so Inner Sphere versions of the Ultra AC/15 and LB 15-X were eventually produced as well, including a Standard AC/15 version, so that the Inner Sphere could make use of their special munitions. 

Code: [Select]

                      Heat     Ammo  Crits  Mass    Range
-------------------------------------------------------------
AC/15                  5        8      8    13.00   0/4/8/12
LB 15-X                4        8      9    12.50   0/5/10/15
Ultra AC/15           6/Shot    8      8    14.00   0/5/10/15

Clan LB 15-X           4        8      7    11.00   0/5/10/15
Clan Ultra AC/15      5/Shot    8      6    11.00   0/5/10/15


[katya_Kerensky]

sounds like a cool idea to me, BV might be high on those due to the lump of damage (Headshot) vs heat and mass but I always wondered why they did that as well

[elizibar]

There's nothing wrong with them, but man, compared to the Gauss Rifle they seem kind of mediocre.  ...I guess that's true of a lot of weapons though.

To fit an AC/15 in, you really need to move the AC/10 down to 10 tons (and make the AC/15 weigh 12) otherwise, theres not exactly a lot of 'space' there to squeeze an AC/15 into, as your numbers demonstrate.

[SCC]

someone or somepeople have fannon wiki: http://battletechfanon.wikia.com/wiki/Autocannon/15
Sarna: http://www.sarna.net/wiki/User:LRichardson/Interpolated_Autocannons that last one is someone personal space on the site

[Suralin]

Yeah, that first fanon-weapons link is where I copied the Clan Heavy ACs in my thread from. Except they were on Sarna at the time.

No complaints about the AC/15 series here. Mind if I make use of 'em?

[WeaponX]

sounds like a cool idea to me, BV might be high on those due to the lump of damage (Headshot) vs heat and mass but I always wondered why they did that as well

BV was a too hard to figure out for me so I left it out, as I don't really know the formula, but I would put it at lower than a Gauss Rifle's due to the shorter range, though the Ultra AC/15s would probably be a bit higher than a Gauss Rifle due to the higher damage potential.

There's nothing wrong with them, but man, compared to the Gauss Rifle they seem kind of mediocre.  ...I guess that's true of a lot of weapons though.

I get your point, which is why I rounded up the median ammo count between an AC/10 and AC/20 to 8 instead of rounding it down to 7, so that the AC/15 has at least has the same ammo count as a Gauss Rifle.

someone or somepeople have fannon wiki: http://battletechfanon.wikia.com/wiki/Autocannon/15
Sarna: http://www.sarna.net/wiki/User:LRichardson/Interpolated_Autocannons that last one is someone personal space on the site

Thanks for the link, that page's tables were pretty close to what I determined, and it even has BV values!   So if anyone wants to mix and match by using the stats I posted here and the BV stats from the link, please feel free to do so :).

No complaints about the AC/15 series here. Mind if I make use of 'em?

Of course you can use them, that's why I posted them in the first place :).

[Hellraiser]

If your trying to fit them into place based on existing models then you have too much ammo.

Current AC's add up to 100 or 90 points per ton.  (And SRMs for that matter)

You have 120/ton which is Gauss/LRM Levels.

Need to drop them to 6 shots per ton at 90 points to match up.

[WeaponX]

If your trying to fit them into place based on existing models then you have too much ammo.

Current AC's add up to 100 or 90 points per ton.  (And SRMs for that matter)

You have 120/ton which is Gauss/LRM Levels.

Need to drop them to 6 shots per ton at 90 points to match up.

My AC/15 series initially started out as Clan weapons, and in order to make them competitive with the Clan AC/20s and even the much superior Clan Gauss Rifle (both of which only weighed 1 ton more), I felt that the Clan AC/15 series needed to maximize its Ammo count, which is why I rounded up the median number of the Ammo count (7.5) between the AC/10 and AC/20 to 8, instead of rounding it down to 7.  When I expanded the Clan AC/15 series to include Inner Sphere versions, I kept the 8 ammo count for the IS ones too.

[Hellraiser]

A 15 point headcapping hit at ranges longer than the AC20 is already pretty balanced.

Your trying to balance against the Gauss Rifle, but the Gauss is hands down the greatest ballistic weapon in the game.

I'd be quite comfortable knowing my AC was even CLOSE to it, let alone trying to be equal to that monster.

[Suralin]

Hey X, are you planning to write any fluff for these? If not I'd be happy to do so. :)

[WeaponX]

Hey X, are you planning to write any fluff for these? If not I'd be happy to do so. :)

I did a short fluff for it that I didn't get around to posting:

Concieved by Clan Diamond Shark as the next evolution of their recently developed Ultra AC/10, the Ultra AC/15 project actually reached the prototype stage, but was mothballed indefinately due to the development of the Ultra AC/20 by Clan Steel Viper.  It wasn't until the Clan Invasion of the 3050s that the Ultra AC/15 project was finally revisited, during the Clans' quest for new weapons for use against the Inner Sphere.  Once the Ultra AC/15 finally reached mass production, it was inevitable that an LB 15-X version was also developed and mass produced.  From there, samples of the Clan AC/15 series eventually reached the Inner Sphere, and so Inner Sphere versions of the Ultra AC/15 and LB 15-X were eventually produced as well, including a Standard AC/15 version, so that the Inner Sphere could make use of their special munitions. 

If you want to elaborate further on the above, or create your own fluff, please feel free to do so.

[elizibar]

How long until we see a RAC/10 and RAC/15? >.>

[Hellraiser]

Higher Caliber RACs have 2 problems

1.  The Heat actually becomes an issue.  (Seriously, Rac-20 on 5 shot = 35 HEAT !!)
That said, using them on Vehicles actually breaths new life into Tanks & ACs

2.  Game Balance wise they start to get SERIOUSLY overpowered.
RAC-5 at least only hits like a ML battery, something we've always had, a RAC10 on the other hand would hit like a full PPC array, something that only thing Anni-1E can even approach.
A RAC20 aside from having the range of an IS MPL would be enough to kill/cripple many mechs in a single salvo.

[Void]

Fun fact: For a long time now, Megamek has actually included code for an AC/15 with, I think, precisely those statistics, just waiting for a custom mech to mount one. You have to go into .mtf files with a text editor and meddle with them thataway to get one. I've seen a group that uses 'em in the 3020s as sort of an advanced Helm Core recovery tech, since they are a cut above the other standard autocannons available.

[LordChaos]

Higher Caliber RACs have 2 problems

1.  The Heat actually becomes an issue.  (Seriously, Rac-20 on 5 shot = 35 HEAT !!)
That said, using them on Vehicles actually breaths new life into Tanks & ACs

2.  Game Balance wise they start to get SERIOUSLY overpowered.
...
A RAC20 aside from having the range of an IS MPL would be enough to kill/cripple many mechs in a single salvo.

I so want a hoover with a RAC20 now.  I'd settle for 1 ton of ammo even.... (after all, if something survives getting shot with that... do YOU want to stick around any longer?)

[Suralin]

Methinks jamming would have to be even worse on the RAC-10 and 20 than on the 2 and 5, to compensate. That or spread its damage around in 5-point increments from all the recoil that would produce.

[HavocTheWarDog]

I thought the reason that there is no ac/15 is because the damage is effedtively doubled as you go higher in the weapons ac/2<ac/5<ac/10<ac/20. I could be wrong tho. I think the gauss rifle's damage and range, more than makes up for a "missing" ac/15