On page 282 of the sixth printing of
TechManual, the following paragraph is provided for Omni unit cost calculations:
Units built with modular technologies (OmniMechs, OmniVehicles, Support OmniVehicles, OmniFighters and battle armor with modular mounts) must compute at least the cost for their base (unloaded) designs. These costs do not include any pod-mounted weapons or items, but must include any weapons and equipment that is “fixed” on the design. Costs for each configuration may be computed when such configurations are finalized, using the cost of the base configuration’s structure and weapons as a starting point.
This would seem to indicate that the "Weapon/Equipment Costs" in the Final Unit Costs Formula Table does not include pod-mounted equipment (or equipment in a modular mount, for battle armor). Does that meant that the flat cost of the equipment is simply added to the final cost of a configuration, rather than being subjected to the usual cost multipliers such as tonnage or chassis modifications?
This
would line up with how such units are typically purchased: when buying an OmniMech, you buy the base chassis then load it with OmniPods as desired. Under this reading, the cost multipliers are meant to represent the overhead of refitting a unit, which is negligible for pod-mounted equipment.
