Author Topic: (Answered) Incendiary LRM Munitions  (Read 1347 times)

Bandit Queen

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(Answered) Incendiary LRM Munitions
« on: 22 October 2018, 07:16:04 »
1)   Can an LRM-5 launcher use Incendiary LRMs (TO, p.370) that are not combined with another munition type?  The rules are confusing as Standard ammo is listed as a munition type that Incendiary LRMs "may" be combined with (TM, p.346).  In other words, if an LRM-5 uses Incendiary ammo without combining it with another special munition type, is it treated as an LRM-5 or an LRM-4 when rolling on the Cluster Table?

2)   For the 3rd bullet point which says "Against infantry units (conventional and battle armored), Incendiary LRMs add +1 damage to their attack for every 5 missiles in the volley.", does this mean that 1 damage is added for each 5 missiles launched?  Meaning an LRM-5 would deal 1 additional damage againist Infantry and an LRM-20 would deal 4 additional damage against an Infantry unit, regardless of the roll on the Cluster Table?  Or does this mean there is 1 additional damage per 5-point cluster?  If it is for a cluster then does it round up normaly or does it round up for fraction thereof?
« Last Edit: 20 November 2018, 16:57:56 by Xotl »

Bandit Queen

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Re: (Research) Incendiary LRM Munitions
« Reply #1 on: 15 November 2018, 07:47:19 »
I see that you are researching this topic.  I have found more information about this munition under the rules section for Thermobaric Weapons (IO, p.165).  It states "Incendiary LRM munitions are one of the most common types of thermobaric weapons used by the Inner Sphere and Clan forces, but other forms include fuel-air explosives available in both artillery and air-droppable formats".  Knowing this, it is hard to believe that there is any damage reduction for using straight Incendiary LRMs.  FAMs are some of the most powerful munitions in the game and can even bypass Fire-Resistant Armor's special protection.

For the bonus damage versus infantry, I tried to find the official definition of "volley".  It is used for many of the special munitions and for OS launchers (TO, p.327).  The best definition I can find is under the construction rules for Missile Launchers (TO, p.326).  The rules state "ProtoMechs mounting a permitted missile system may install ammunition by the volley rather than by the ton (to find the per-volley weight, divide 1,000 by the weapon’s listed ammo-per-ton value for a single tube; then multiply that by the number of missiles in the volley to find the kilogram weight of a single volley".  This means that volley equals the size of the launcher.  This is easy to calculate for normal launchers as you just take the launcher size and divide by 5.  But how do you calculate the bonus damage for the irregular sized ProtoMech launchers?  Do you round normally, round down, or round up for fraction thereof?

Xotl

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Re: (Research) Incendiary LRM Munitions
« Reply #2 on: 19 November 2018, 02:34:17 »
1) No: TO makes it clear that they are always combined.

2) Straight damage, not cluster results.

Follow-up: Round up to the nearest 5.
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