Ideal Field Gun?

[ravensword]

What is the best field gun for motorized infantry units?

My thinking would usually be LB 10-X, but not having access to solid shot hurts it.

[Retry]

LB 2-X.
Plenty of ammo, outranges almost everything (which is nice since field guns are not really mobile at all), you can stuff a good 4 guns on an IS motorized platoon and perhaps 5 on a Clan one.  8 or 10 points of pellets is nothing to sneeze at, and it has enough redundancy that you'll still be able to fire a few guns if you take some casualties (unlike, say, a Long Tom or Gauss Rifle platoon).  The BV isn't too bad either.

[Sartris]

LB 2-X.
Plenty of ammo, outranges almost everything (which is nice since field guns are not really mobile at all), you can stuff a good 4 guns on an IS motorized platoon and perhaps 5 on a Clan one.  8 or 10 points of pellets is nothing to sneeze at, and it has enough redundancy that you'll still be able to fire a few guns if you take some casualties (unlike, say, a Long Tom or Gauss Rifle platoon).  The BV isn't too bad either.

also a great AAA platform.

i've done five LAC/5 firing from buildings before, which was pretty entertaining

[pheonixstorm]

AC/5. 20 rounds of ammo per gun, which means 3 different kinds of specialty ammo!

[The_Caveman]

What is the best field gun for motorized infantry units?

My thinking would usually be LB 10-X, but not having access to solid shot hurts it.

IMO you aren't missing much with cluster only. Unless you find yourself beset by enemies wearing ferro-lamellor armor, the combination of multiple location rolls and to-hit bonus make the larger LBX sizes rude customers.

Light AC/2s are the only thing better for field gunners, especially with rapid-fire ACs in play.

[Sartris]

IMO you aren't missing much with cluster only. Unless you find yourself beset by enemies wearing ferro-lamellor armor, the combination of multiple location rolls and to-hit bonus make the larger LBX sizes rude customers.

Light AC/2s are the only thing better for field gunners, especially with rapid-fire ACs in play.

Field guns don’t jam, baby!

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

But don't they still explode in the event of a 2?

[pheonixstorm]

Dont explode either.

That is the nice thing about Field Guns. They can take any ammo, don't jam, and don't explode.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Wow, that is handy.

[SCC]

LB-10-X's probably sit in an anti-sweet spot for field guns as they don't offer that much more then what the infantry already get for free.

Spot check me: Is the damage from infantry attacks typed? I'm pretty sure SRM and LRM platoons don't count as missiles, but what about other damage types and special armors?

[The_Caveman]

Infantry damage is in two-point clusters, and there is no standard infantry weapon type that is going to equal a platoon armed with two LB-10X for damage, nevermind range. Even LRM infantry have half the range of an LB-10X and a standard LRM platoon is going to do less damage. If both LB-10X hit that's an average 12 location rolls, versus 3 average location rolls for a standard LRM platoon and 4 average location rolls for a standard SRM platoon. The field gunners are going to knock out a 'Mech or vehicle much, much faster.

[Weirdo]

Spot check me: Is the damage from infantry attacks typed? I'm pretty sure SRM and LRM platoons don't count as missiles, but what about other damage types and special armors?

They are typed, yes. Missile troops are, too. Minor irritation is, there's no spot on the record sheet to denote this, aside from maybe calling your platoon an SRM platoon or laser platoon. Type is denoted in Tech Manual in each weapon's stat line. It doesn't say explicitly, but it's logical to assume that whatever weapon is defining your platoon's range, that's the type for damage and other properties.

[Colt Ward]

I was going with Ultra AC/5s . . . while AC/5s might be nice b/c of the ammo offerings, the problem is Rapid Fire is a advanced rule . . . UAC/5s have more range and get that double tap option under regular rules.

Infantry damage happens in clusters of 2?

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Aren't Field Guns themselves an advanced rule?

[Sartris]

Yes

[Weirdo]

Infantry damage happens in clusters of 2?

Their regular damage, yes. Field guns do damage as normal for the gun in question.

[Colt Ward]

Yeah, my last table top game I was clustering the LRM point's damage in 5s.  Makes them better crit-seekers for the next game I guess.

MLO, they maybe but advanced rules are not a blanket, so if a group decides field guns are ok, but rapid fire is not . . . then Ultras & RACs do better than simple ACs.

[Retry]

Infantry damage is in two-point clusters, and there is no standard infantry weapon type that is going to equal a platoon armed with two LB-10X for damage, nevermind range.

Mauser's laser rifles (IIC, 960, 1200) gets you the damage.  ER Heavy Support Laser gets you the range.

Even LRM infantry have half the range of an LB-10X and a standard LRM platoon is going to do less damage.

I'm just going to say that infantry support weapons in TW are really weird.

The field gunners are going to knock out a 'Mech or vehicle much, much faster.

Generally, yes.  Unless you're unfortunate to find yourself against a squad of Stone's Trackers...

[wundergoat]

I like light gauss.  Great range and ammo endurance with decent damage.

[SCC]

I'm just going to say that infantry support weapons in TW are really weird.

Worst part is how BV is calculated.

Generally, yes. Unless you're unfortunate to find yourself against a squad of Stone's Trackers...

Tau Zombies would like a word. And that's without getting into customs, anytime someone brings cybernetic beast mounted infantry to the table it's going to be nasty.

[Col Toda]

Infantry are fragile . AC 10 or 20 Ultra . So 2 1/2 or 5 ultra shots . The unit might live to run out of ammo . Put in an armored fortress building to shoot of just about any the aforementioned would be better . The will not jam aspect is cool . A RAC /2 or 5 might also work . In an environment with actual artillery or air bust mech mortars or machine gun armed battle armor ..

[Retry]

Tau Zombies would like a word. And that's without getting into customs, anytime someone brings cybernetic beast mounted infantry to the table it's going to be nasty.

The Trackers are a bit more mobile (jump jets) and have a big range advantage for similar damage.  Tau Zombies are definitely nasty but I gotta give the edge to the Trackers.

Now those beasts, that sounds like something straight out of cyberpunk.

[RifleMech]

Is it wrong that I like improved autocannons, ProtoMechs automatons,  and 8.8cm tank cannons as field guns?

Hypervelocity are fun too.

[kaliban]

The answer probably is:  "it depends"

I play mostly in 3025 and Clan Invasion era. AC/5 are pretty common and available. An 16-men motorized rifle infantry unit (2 squads of 8 men) can operate one AC/5 with 3 MP and only 101 BVs. The mininum range limitation of the AC/5 are compensated by the range of the rifles and the damage is similar. In general open maps, they work well

For urban warfare, I switch to a full platoon (28men) using a single AC/20. Same motorized rifle but you can combine with other weapons. These ones are great to place in building. The limited ammo (5 shots) is a small downside in practice.

I prefer to 2x the number of men needed to manage the autocannon in order to be able to take some damage and continue fire.

More sophisticated weapons, like LAC/5 and Gauss Rifles can also be used also, but I prefer more basic options.

[Sartris]

if i can get five shots off with an AC/20 field gun, that is a smashing success

[Colt Ward]

I LOVED having a Ultra AC/5 & RAC/2 platoon with all those guns . . . positioned together in some woods, a heavy mech came around the corner.  3 UAC/5s on double, 3 RAC/2s on 6 spin.  Peppered that thing and made them reconsider field gun platoons, and if you have the max guns but expect some casualties you get more ammo for the high ROF platoons.

[Greatclub]

There actually aren't a lot of bad choices here. Although I wish heavy gauss was an option, I figure figure Arrow iv is the deadliest.

Ideal for what? Light gauss for long range, ultra 5 for midrange, rac/5 for short range, and ultra 20 for ambush hole-punching

[The_Caveman]

Can you use Arrow IV as a field gun? You can't use regular missile launchers.

Which is dumb, it's not like they require much more of a power source than an autocannon does. With BT's kinda-sorta-guided-ish missiles you probably don't even need a fire-control radar. MRMs certainly don't.

[Colt Ward]

A4 is weird . . . it falls under being a artillery system, even if it is a missile artillery system.

[brother elf]

Can you use Arrow IV as a field gun? You can't use regular missile launchers.

Not as a field gun, but you can use them as field arty (unit reduced to 1MP, only one piece, always tracks firing arc and pays for changes to firing arc)