Author Topic: 1e Mechwarrior Question  (Read 1978 times)

Psyckosama

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1e Mechwarrior Question
« on: 29 April 2018, 22:39:08 »
What's the damage conversion from human scale to mech scale?

massey

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Re: 1e Mechwarrior Question
« Reply #1 on: 30 April 2018, 09:54:55 »
As I recall, you rolled the damage dice, and for every "6", you inflicted half a point of mech damage.  So you needed at least two 6s to do a point of damage.  Don't hold me to that, though.

skiltao

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Re: 1e Mechwarrior Question
« Reply #2 on: 30 April 2018, 13:48:43 »
You're thinking of the second edition companion, Massey.

In MW1e, all personal weapons deal a maximum of 1 point of damage to 'Mechs, and most of the time no damage at all. After successfully striking the 'Mech, you make an extra 2d6 roll on which shotguns have a 1/36 chance of dealing damage; most other firearms have a 2/36 chance; laser rifles are 4/36; gyrojets are 6/36; and SRMs are 9/36. (Personal weapons also reduce their effective range when firing against 'Mechs. Looks to be about two-thirds of their anti-personnel range, including a +6 and sometimes +8 or +10 bracket.)
« Last Edit: 30 April 2018, 13:53:17 by skiltao »
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Psyckosama

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Re: 1e Mechwarrior Question
« Reply #3 on: 30 April 2018, 20:41:31 »
You're thinking of the second edition companion, Massey.

In MW1e, all personal weapons deal a maximum of 1 point of damage to 'Mechs, and most of the time no damage at all. After successfully striking the 'Mech, you make an extra 2d6 roll on which shotguns have a 1/36 chance of dealing damage; most other firearms have a 2/36 chance; laser rifles are 4/36; gyrojets are 6/36; and SRMs are 9/36. (Personal weapons also reduce their effective range when firing against 'Mechs. Looks to be about two-thirds of their anti-personnel range, including a +6 and sometimes +8 or +10 bracket.)

What page is this? Haven't been able to find it.

Atlas3060

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Re: 1e Mechwarrior Question
« Reply #4 on: 30 April 2018, 22:04:45 »
Page 78, look for a "Shot at 'Mech Table" entry to help you out when browsing.
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Psyckosama

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Re: 1e Mechwarrior Question
« Reply #5 on: 02 May 2018, 08:20:12 »
Page 78, look for a "Shot at 'Mech Table" entry to help you out when browsing.

Thanks. Anything about how the game reacts when actions are made in the other direction, like shooting at characters with machine guns?

skiltao

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Re: 1e Mechwarrior Question
« Reply #6 on: 02 May 2018, 15:14:53 »
I don't see anything explicit, but I believe MW1e's authors assumed a x10 multiplier for direct hits and a x5 multiplier for nearby/AoE hits.

The "Attack by Natives" event refers to "platoons" rather than "squads," which suggests one-trooper-per-damage CityTech rules rather than one-squad-per-damage BattleDroids rules. A typical MechWarrior is assumed to have Body 6 and 60 Hit Points, and take 10 MW1e damage per point of BattleTech pilot damage. BattleTech pilot damage (from failed piloting rolls, the 'Mech's head getting hit, etc) must go directly to Hit Points (or be applied in 5 point groups), because if it were applied to a hit location normally, the pilot would pass out and die much earlier. Looking at damage rules on page 83 and onward, and supposing critical hits are only relevant 50% of the time, I estimate that a character will on average take only 1/6th of their Hit Points in a single hit on the hit location table before being rendered combat-ineffective. That means 10 points of damage for an average character.

MW1e introduced artillery (pages 58, 88-90) and infernos (page 57), both of which have full effect in their targeted hex and half effect in surrounding hexes. Now, DropShips and JumpShips was written for MW1e, and it translates KF Field Damage (page 29) from BattleTech values to RPG values by multiplying x5. If we read this x5 multiplier as AoE splash damage - which I think is reasonable - it should then also imply a x10 multiplier for direct hits.

I don't think MW1e has any rules that would allow a BattleTech-scale machine gun work properly (that is, capable of disabling up to 24 troopers in one attack). You'd have to come up with your own rules for spraying multiple RPG-scale hexes, or look at the ones in BattleTroops. I have not looked closely at BattleTroops, though, and I've heard its rules are rather more generous to infantry than MW1e is.
« Last Edit: 02 May 2018, 15:16:50 by skiltao »
Blog: currently working on BattleMech manufacturing rates. (Faction Intros project will resume eventually.)
History of BattleTech: Handy chart for returning players. (last updated end of 2012)