[Nomenclature note - I'll be calling the basic Mech Combat Game of BattleTech, what most people refer to as Total Warfare, as Core BattleTech.]
That's... pretty much 180 out from how I see it.
From my perspective, the tabletop game is the center of the universe. Everything (in either direction) is a generalization from one direction or the other. BA shouldn't have "hit locations" any more than unarmored (by which I mean, not power armored) infantry at TW scale.
Uh, we're discussing
RPG level, not TW level. And, RPG level can blend into a BattleTroops level game. Honestly, aside from some well-equipped, well-trained, frontline troops, which are few in number. Most infantry shouldn't be on a TW field, beyond as components for something else, like bunkers, towed guns, specialist passengers in APCs which can be used to plant explosives on an objective, clear out a building, take over a control tower or weapons turret, etc.
In a land of high-powered lasers that can melt armor, and missiles the size of three-liter bottles exploding with shrapnel and force comparable to modern AtG missiles, exposed skin, as depicted on the stock trooper out of a house book, can't expect to survive even stray shots on that pass close. Remember some of the novels dealing with folks carrying laser pistols? Those folks operate at a different level. Nowhere near where Core BattleTech operates or depicts.
In fact, in our games, we rarely use stock infantry beyond what I listed above. I have a friend who refuses to run them, preferring tanks and Mechs. I'm the one that has to include the infantry objective pieces and the occasional air strike.
And, again, I want the hit locations mapped on infantry mostly for indiscriminate fire, like Artillery, LB-X fire, and the like.
[random idea] If I were to do anything to allow for stray shots or poor shot-groupings, it would be over range. Range bands would have a different hit chart applied at each one for burst fire. For example, Short range is main body. Medium range would be punch hit, or something like it. Long and extreme would be full-body chart as depicted in Core BattleTech. Single shot weapons might get to ignore this, especially beam weaponry, getting the typical range mod, instead.
I've been playing around with this for a Macross Mod for BT. BT is on a whole different level than anything modern, in my imagination. So, when shots should be grouping well, especially with computer assist, which on an Abrams makes for a hit with maybe a single percent failure to strike, it
is hard to justify random location hits. With the exception of, say, arm interference, which can't be predicted. A Valk carrying a rifle like a man who is shot in the chest could easily take the hit on the weapon or arm(s) carrying it.
But, if you look at the RoboTech RPG rules and stats, even they have the damage going to the core body. However, I look at the missiles, which have an AoE, I realize that that blast will be damaging more than just the core body. You could lose sensors, damage a limb, and so-on. And, if I were to GM, I'd be enforcing that.
That logic goes back to the 2nd ed and other RPGs. The Core BattleTech rules for BA reflect center-of-mass targeting for particularly accurate weapons particularly well, barring the super armor and application of mobility to inflict high attack-failure rates. Then, to have the damaged reduced in the RPG and apply it to randomized locations? The full damage of a single Core Rules point of damage converted is, just off memory, 5d6+5? (
I remember it maxing out between 35 and 40. Someone feel free to correct me.) Even if we average it to 20, if you take the full HP of the suit as given in the companion and divide it by the Core Rules stats, you get between 12 and 13(?), which doesn't work out. Which means some of that damage is 'splashing', by those standards.
I
strongly don't agree with that.
[Another Random Idea]
Now, if people want splash effects and potential BA crits, we could look at the MaxTech 'Glancing Shot' rules for Direct fire weapons. It logically makes sense. Apply that to a crit chance table like a Mech, and in the RPG, roll which location takes the rest of the damage, or use an Alpha Strike crit table for Core Level play.
I actually like the idea of a little more complexity in my infantry, and BA taking crits makes sense. But, I also want to be able to target individual suits with individual weapons, instead of firing at the group as a unit. And, I also feel that Rolling for each individual suit's ranged attack, instead of on the cluster table isn't a bad idea, either, even though that would mean randomizing each trooper's skills. Our group plays with randomized skills already.
So, yeah. I would prefer the RPG to reflect the Core BT rules in some respects, especially when it comes to Armored Combat Units. That means the HP of a Power Suit applying solely to the core body, and matching the point values as they would be converted, at least being average, if not max.
The idea of the extra detail would be simply to have it available for the odd circumstances where it might come into play, which is where the RPG is supposed to shine. And, it would be on the back-end of unit design.
Poll
