Improved HAG

[IAMCLANWOLF]

What would you change about the HAG if someone gave you the green-light to come up with an alternate set of stats for an improved version?

[Onisuzume]

Other than the fact that it exists? :p

[Diplominator]

Are we talking "improved" like improved Heavy Gauss Rifle or improved Heavy Laser, or improved like "what the HAG should have been?"

In either case, perhaps give them variable damage like RACs, but they can have either their current stats, or half their rating in one chunk. And then double the ammunition but make the current mode take two shots. The HAG-20 becomes a nifty alternative to the AC/10 family, the HAG-30 becomes a Gauss rifle that pays a ton for the ability to sandblast, and the HAG-40 becomes a complete menace to all that is good and right in the world. Mechs like the Onager that use HAGs as primary weapons gain a bit of damage concentration, the Clans get a unique weapon system, and the HAG is no longer almost totally inferior to Clan LRMs.

[IAMCLANWOLF]

Are we talking "improved" like improved Heavy Gauss Rifle or improved Heavy Laser...?"

Correct.

[Kamov]

I would change the name.  That would be the biggest improvement.

[Southern Coyote]

Well, I've always been a fan of the design, despite what people think about it.  I would give it a slug option with a TH penalty.  Yeah, it may be freaking hard to hit something with it, but if it hits...

[evilauthor]

Roll each point of damage individually, like a giant LB-X cluster roll. This turns them into the crit seeker FROM HELL!  :D

Of course, I play all my BT on Megamek, so the computer is basically doing all the work as far as dicerolling goes...

But yeah, I like the idea of the RAC-like variable damage idea. Sometimes you want to conserve shots. Sometimes you want to go all out.

[IAMCLANWOLF]

^...yeah, I like this idea. Also a -1 to hit would be nice since its basically a pulse-gauss. Don't want to make it too good though.

I want to love the HAG, but it's really just an overweight LRM that looses accuracy at long range but has the bonus of an Artemis at short. I just want there to be something unique to it other than the description. As it sits I'd take two LRM 20's over a HAG 40 any day - save the extra weight and crits for something else. If however the damage was distributed in 1 point increments - I'd be all-over the HAG. 

[Onisuzume]

Pfft. Two LRM-20s? I'd rather go with an MRM-40 instead.
Same amount of missiles, and for the tonnage I can get 48 more salvos.

Or an SMRM... Hm....

[lljkBreetai]

^...yeah, I like this idea. Also a -1 to hit would be nice since its basically a pulse-gauss. Don't want to make it too good though.

I want to love the HAG, but it's really just an overweight LRM that looses accuracy at long range but has the bonus of an Artemis at short. I just want there to be something unique to it other than the description. As it sits I'd take two LRM 20's over a HAG 40 any day - save the extra weight and crits for something else. If however the damage was distributed in 1 point increments - I'd be all-over the HAG.

Give it the option to adjust the rate of the burst of projectiles it fires. A shorter, faster burst is harder to hit with as you don't have enough time to 'walk' the stream of shells towards your target, but tends to group the hits closer together. A longer, slower burst is easier to hit with, but tends towards more of an all-over splatter.


Game mechanic wise:

Fast burst: +1 to the to-hit target, but damage is grouped in bunches of 10.
Slow burst: -1 to the to-hit target, but damage is grouped in bunches of 2.

[Diamondshark]

Well, I've always been a fan of the design, despite what people think about it.  I would give it a slug option with a TH penalty.  Yeah, it may be freaking hard to hit something with it, but if it hits...

[stupid] What he said  [drool]

[ialdabaoth]

1. I'd call it a "Railgun", since that's basically what it is. I'd rename them "Light Railgun", "Medium Railgun" and "Heavy Railgun". I'd then call the AP Gauss Rifle an "AP Railgun".

2.  I'd make all versions deal 5 damage for 1 heat, and all version have 24 shots per ton. The Light Railgun has a Rate of Fire of 1-4, the Medium Railgun has a Rate of Fire of 1-6, and the Heavy Railgun has a Rate of Fire of 1-8 - so they basically work like RAC's without the jamming.

3. I'd ditch the "more accurate at short range and less accurate at long range" schtick; they just work like regular rapid-fire weapons.

[Onisuzume]

Gauss weapons in BTech are closer to coilguns, actually...

[ialdabaoth]

Very true, but the HAG doesn't have to be a coilgun. It could be nice and flavorful why they work differently - Gauss Rifles are coilguns that accelerate a single, large slug; railguns rapid-fire a bunch of smaller projectiles.

[Onisuzume]

Not really, actually. The difference lies in the manner used to propell the slugs.
Railgun:

Coilgun:

[ialdabaoth]

Not really, actually. The difference lies in the manner used to propell the slugs.

Yep! Now look at those two designs. The coilgun has to switch various magnets/solenoids on and off to accelerate the slug. The railgun just charges the rails. With the railgun, every time you drop something metal between the two rails, off it goes!

[A. Lurker]

Yep! Now look at those two designs. The coilgun has to switch various magnets/solenoids on and off to accelerate the slug. The railgun just charges the rails. With the railgun, every time you drop something metal between the two rails, off it goes!

Which results in the rails wearing out that much faster. You're sending an ungodly amount of current straight through a projectile in physical contact with them in order to get it to slide right along them, after all.

Even with magic BT materials, I'd say that for game purposes the chances of an actual railgun breaking down in combat would likely be at least as good as those of an ultra autocannon that's somehow gotten stuck in double-tap mode...