BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Game Systems => General BattleTech Discussion => Topic started by: phoenixalpha on 12 June 2017, 10:58:12
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Just a small question - can you fit two capacitors to a PPC (which ever variety) so that each turn you can charge one and use the other one for the PPC - so that every turn you are firing with the +5 damage?
Round one - charge capacitor A, fire capacitor B.
Round two - fire capacitor A, charge capacitor B.
Repeat....
I realise it'd be very heat intensive but... is it possible or is it one capacitor per PPC?
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Barring any errata...
The rules don't technically state that you can only mount one Capacitor per PPC just "Capacitors can only modify one PPC and do not stack." Which would seem to indicate that you can't install 3 Capacitors and expect your Light PPC to do 20 damage, but it doesn't necessarily say that you can't add more than one Capacitor to a PPC in order to do what you want.
The issue comes in under the gameplay rules, where it states "Instead of firing a PPC as normal, the pilot may choose to charge the PPC Capacitor." This seems to indicate that its the PPC itself charging the Capacitor, and not the Fusion engine, so your idea won't work because you're trying to charge the second Capacitor the same time you're firing the PPC. You have to give up firing the PPC to charge the Capacitor, and at no point in your example are you doing that.
So. Barring Errata (there's so much I don't have time to go through it real quick) there's nothing that specifically states only one Capacitor per PPC (only that they don't stack), but your idea won't work because you can't charge and fire at the same time.
Atleast that's how I interpret it.
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I suppose by that interpretation, you could not fire the PPC for two turns to charge two capacitors, then fire them over the course of two turns, which in some situations might be genuinely useful. However, I suspect that it's 1) probably against the rules, if one were to give it a closer look (perhaps note the use of singular language, though it's more suggestive than definitive) and 2) it's honestly not really worth it anyway.
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Definitely intriguing. The fast-jumping PPC boats like the Legionnaire and Stealth would probably benefit greatly from something like this if you tinkered enough. I don't see anything that really says for sure either way- I'd say it's not likely to be rules-legal, but worth asking the rules gurus about (ask the writers)
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I'd ask in the actual rules forums, particularly TacOps.
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Just a small question - can you fit two capacitors to a PPC (which ever variety) so that each turn you can charge one and use the other one for the PPC - so that every turn you are firing with the +5 damage?
Can't be done alas. The TO p336 construction state "Capacitors can only modify one PPC and do not stack."
On top of that, the game rules on p337 state "Instead of firing a PPC as normal, the pilot may choose to charge the PPC Capacitor"
That being the case - using your example - you wouldn't be able to charge Capacitor A, while firing Capacitor B either.
Chris
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Can't be done alas. The TO p336 construction state "Capacitors can only modify one PPC and do not stack."
I would point out (barring errata that I haven't checked..still), that the rules only really say that capacitors can't modify more than one PPC and that they don't stack. "Don't stack," is rather nebulous and I read it as "you can't put 4 capacitors on something, and get +20 to damage," but it doesn't specifically state "You can't put more than one Capacitor on something,"
if they did intend to only allow for a single capacitor, no clue why they wouldn't have simply written, "Capacitors can only modify one PPC, and a PPC can only mount one Capacitor."
There are limited uses for multiple Capacitors, namely storing up energy over several turns, and then firing for several turns, and if you take a critical hit on the same turn as firing, you would only burn out the Capacitor, and not the entire PPC, so there is some redundancy.
Mind you, I'm guessing the answer is going to be "One Capacitor per PPC," but I did find it interesting that the rules don't actually say that.
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I would point out (barring errata that I haven't checked..still), that the rules only really say that capacitors can't modify more than one PPC and that they don't stack. "Don't stack," is rather nebulous and I read it as "you can't put 4 capacitors on something, and get +20 to damage," but it doesn't specifically state "You can't put more than one Capacitor on something,"
I think that many interpreted "don't stack" exactly as "you can't put more than one Capacitor on something." For once, I did.
if they did intend to only allow for a single capacitor, no clue why they wouldn't have simply written, "Capacitors can only modify one PPC, and a PPC can only mount one Capacitor."
Mind you, I'm guessing the answer is going to be "One Capacitor per PPC," but I did find it interesting that the rules don't actually say that.
Objectively, this case won't win the prize "Worst Wording." There were (and are) far worse cases.
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[phil ken sebben]HAHA![/phil ken sebben]
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=31129.msg729009#msg729009
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This reminds me of the Bart Simpson Megaphone Challenge and would love to see this lead to a new Boondoggle
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So the wording of the rules imply you can have more than one capacitor. But also say you can't stack their effects.
Redundancy? In case Cap 1 takes a crit, you can use Cap 2?
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I think interpreting the rules to allow more than one capacitor is a major stretch, running contrary to both the intention and usual interpretation of that rule.
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Seeing as how you can have Capacitors on some PPCs and not others, I suspect it works like Artemis IV - it only affects the gun that it's attached to directly. If you lose a PPC on one side and a Capacitor on the other, you can't cross-link it.
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I think interpreting the rules to allow more than one capacitor is a major stretch, running contrary to both the intention and usual interpretation of that rule.
FWIW at my table you'd be called a few nasty names if you tried to slap multiple capacitors on one PPC.