Strafing with PPCs

[Saklad5]

Under current tabletop rules, PPCs (as ammo-independent energy weapons) may be used for strafing attacks. This is difficult to square with their operating principle, which fires a single discrete burst of protons/ions.

Speaking purely from an in-universe perspective, is PPC strafing possible? If so, how? What does it look like?


I'm assuming, by the way, that strafing with things like machine guns, chemical lasers, and even autocannons is technically possible, but catastrophically ammo-inefficient to the point that it is never done on the scale of multiple 30m hexes.

[cray]

Ooo, I got permissions back.

PPCs are a class of weapons that cover many different means of projecting particles, from bolts to streams. The Hellstar PPCs of the Marauder do not necessarily discharge in the same way as a Parti-Kill PPC of the Manticore. Sometimes the same make and model of PPC will do different things in different novels. ;)

Such fictional depictions of PPCs take a backseat to the game rules. The rules say PPCs can strafe. Therefore, they can project particles for long (or in a sufficient number of bolts) enough to hit multiple targets along several hexes.

[Saklad5]

So in-universe, whether they fire continuous streams or discrete bolts varies model to model, much like the number of shots in an autocannon burst?

[cray]

So in-universe, whether they fire continuous streams or discrete bolts varies model to model, much like the number of shots in an autocannon burst?

Correct. And the end result is the same: PPCs are capable of strafing. The fictional description defers to the rules.