What are the best Battle Armor models for Marine Boarding Operation

[Daryk]

The applicability of the prohibition is unclear, as I said.  The line I quoted is under "Atmospheric Drops", and those rules are referred to in the "SPACE DROPS FOR GROUND UNITS IN ZERO-G OPERATIONS" section on page 22.  Was there a rules question posed that resulted in an official ruling?

[Weirdo]

I thought APCs had "Infantry Compartments"... that would imply a specific kind of door, wouldn't it? ??? (or as the recent emoji change appears to be enforcing... I hope we get the old ones back!).

Nah, they just use cargo. And the rules are clear that infantry never care about doors.

[Daryk]

Sounds good to me, but the last time I asked about an edge case like this, I was told "if it's not explicitly permitted, it's prohibited".   If TPTB are relaxing that, GREAT! :)

[Minemech]

 The general rule of TPTB is whatever makes your game more fun. Going too soft with the rules risks fun as much as making them too draconian. It is a via media.

[Daryk]

No argument there... just relaying what I was told last time.

[Hellraiser]

For some reason I thought the rule for Infantry was that they could use ANY door, not that they used "unseen" doors.
So there still had to be some kind of door.

[Colt Ward]

For some reason I thought the rule for Infantry was that they could use ANY door, not that they used "unseen" doors.
So there still had to be some kind of door.

Airlocks which appear in fiction are never spelled out in design as they are incidental.  So yeah, cargo doors if your bay is secured, or pop a airlock for a jump.

[Weirdo]

For some reason I thought the rule for Infantry was that they could use ANY door, not that they used "unseen" doors.
So there still had to be some kind of door.

StratOps is clear that infantry don't care about doors of any kind. I'll have to check TW to see if it goes the same.

[Daryk]

Curiously, while StratOps: AAR page 20 (under air drops) says:

A carrying aerospace unit can drop any number of infantry units.

...page 25 (under abandoning ship) limits you to 50 personnel.

[Weirdo]

That's funky.

Fortunately, the only time infantry leave my ships in game is for a combat drop, so I feel no need to pay any attention to the other rule.

[Frabby]

If I were your GM, your Clan Elementals - with or without battlesuits - simply wouldn’t fit into or be combat effective inside of any spaceship or section thereof built for normal humans.
I recall one boarding instance in canon using BA (a single suit even), Finding Jardine. The fight pretty much ruins the ship.
So battle armor may not be your first choice, or a choice at all, for a boarding operation in space. It will typically be regular-sized infantry in space suits.

Also, early sources were explicit that firearms shouldn’t be used on spacecraft. The weapons of choice are blades or perhaps low-penetration needlers/flechette guns.

[Colt Ward]

If I were your GM, your Clan Elementals - with or without battlesuits - simply wouldn’t fit into or be combat effective inside of any spaceship or section thereof built for normal humans.
I recall one boarding instance in canon using BA (a single suit even), Finding Jardine. The fight pretty much ruins the ship.
So battle armor may not be your first choice, or a choice at all, for a boarding operation in space. It will typically be regular-sized infantry in space suits.

Also, early sources were explicit that firearms shouldn’t be used on spacecraft. The weapons of choice are blades or perhaps low-penetration needlers/flechette guns.

 . . . except we have cases of Elementals wearing their suits around on spaceships (Evantha rescuing Ulric & Phelan, Jake & crew capturing a Drac warship) and we specifically have rules for them acting as Marines & boarding other spaceships.  Their ability/point value for boarding or defending from boarding comes down to type, weapons equipped (Flamer is better than MG), and suit melee options- IE Battle Claw vs gloved manipulator.  Elementals actually get TWO weapons on their suits for boarding- the MWM which would best be served by a flamer IIRC the stats and swapping the default AP autorifle for something like a shotgun.  The rules first came out in Combat Ops lo these many years ago, but I think they were updated in something else and the final update (so far) is in Campaign Ops I think.

Now BY fluff, the Davion I/Whirlwinds have narrow corridors that make battle armor use difficult IIRC . . . but that would be a (not official) quirk and not factor in by the rules.

[Jellico]

I mean, if we are going by the rules infantry is better at "boarding" than battle armor per ton. But then Elementals get a +2 simply for being an elemental (note the rules state the Elemental isn't wearing body armor because a troopers value can't exceed 2. In comparison marine training plus body armor equals +2, so think what a specialist elemental in their standard body armor could have been.).

[Hellraiser]

Airlocks which appear in fiction are never spelled out in design as they are incidental.  So yeah, cargo doors if your bay is secured, or pop a airlock for a jump.

I thought each door was an airlock which is why 2 ships can connect at 2 door points.
I haven't read those rules in a long time but I thought that was how they docked with each other.

[Hellraiser]

If I were your GM, your Clan Elementals - with or without battlesuits - simply wouldn’t fit into or be combat effective inside of any spaceship or section thereof built for normal humans.
I recall one boarding instance in canon using BA (a single suit even), Finding Jardine. The fight pretty much ruins the ship.
So battle armor may not be your first choice, or a choice at all, for a boarding operation in space. It will typically be regular-sized infantry in space suits.

Also, early sources were explicit that firearms shouldn’t be used on spacecraft. The weapons of choice are blades or perhaps low-penetration needlers/flechette guns.

. . . except we have cases of Elementals wearing their suits around on spaceships (Evantha rescuing Ulric & Phelan, Jake & crew capturing a Drac warship) and we specifically have rules for them acting as Marines & boarding other spaceships.  Their ability/point value for boarding or defending from boarding comes down to type, weapons equipped (Flamer is better than MG), and suit melee options- IE Battle Claw vs gloved manipulator.  Elementals actually get TWO weapons on their suits for boarding- the MWM which would best be served by a flamer IIRC the stats and swapping the default AP autorifle for something like a shotgun.  The rules first came out in Combat Ops lo these many years ago, but I think they were updated in something else and the final update (so far) is in Campaign Ops I think.

Now BY fluff, the Davion I/Whirlwinds have narrow corridors that make battle armor use difficult IIRC . . . but that would be a (not official) quirk and not factor in by the rules.

Yeah, there are some TRO vessels that mention being very hard to capture because elementals can't fit.
I want to say the Odyssey was one of them, but I'm not sure.  Or maybe its that only some are big enough.
Larger Warships I'm not surprised if they are fine.
Its Jumpships & Dropships that might be dealing w/ some tight corridors.
 

[Colt Ward]

I thought each door was an airlock which is why 2 ships can connect at 2 door points.
I haven't read those rules in a long time but I thought that was how they docked with each other.

They could be airlocks or they could just be sealable connections.  What we are talking about here are personnel air locks where crew can cycle through for spacewalks to repair anything on the exterior- or check the seals on those mated cargo doors.

[Cannonshop]

I thought each door was an airlock which is why 2 ships can connect at 2 door points.
I haven't read those rules in a long time but I thought that was how they docked with each other.

there's a maxim somewhere out there about how with a demo kit, anywhere can be a door-if you're not fussed about letting the air out.

[Colt Ward]

there's a maxim somewhere out there about how with a demo kit, anywhere can be a door-if you're not fussed about letting the air out.

Anything can be a airlock exit . . . once.

[VhenRa]

I mean, if we are going by the rules infantry is better at "boarding" than battle armor per ton. But then Elementals get a +2 simply for being an elemental (note the rules state the Elemental isn't wearing body armor because a troopers value can't exceed 2. In comparison marine training plus body armor equals +2, so think what a specialist elemental in their standard body armor could have been.).

One thing to remember here is, in the time since this thread started the marine points rules changed.

Both for battle armor and for more conventional marines.

There is no such limit anymore.