[Equipment] "Streak" Punch

[cray]

This product of Solaris VII arenas is a simple but unusual augmentation of a classic BattleMech physical attack: a standard rocket launcher is mounted behind the hand actuator, generally on a forearm bracket, and is activated by a simple impact sensor after a MechWarrior triggers a punch attack (without which the "Streak Punch" system should be fairly safe against accidental impacts.) Rather than volleying rockets in a typical space sequence, the launcher salvos its rockets almost simultaneously to exploit the brief window of the punch. This tends to result in rocket fratricide and dispersal, but the point blank launch means even damaged rockets detonate against the target: effectively, none miss. This can greatly augment the effect of a punch for even light 'Mechs.

The genesis of the Streak Punch was an effort by a minor BattleMech stable to try to produce a "rocket fist," which would dramatically propel a hand actuator across an arena in a one-shot surprise attack. With limited funds to engineer such a complicated "rocket fist," let alone pay for regular replacement hand actuators, the stable hit upon the idea of impact-activated weaponry. Rocket launchers were selected because they were simple and robust enough to be used in such conditions and, frankly, the stable was still stuck on the idea of rocket punches.

The Streak Punch has a number of drawbacks. The mass-volley of rockets greatly overheats the launcher, potentially wrecking it and straining the 'Mech's coolant system. Quite often, the punching 'Mech's arm is also damaged by the nearby explosions of rockets against the target. If more than one launcher is carried in an arm, the heat flash and nearby explosions tend to detonate other launchers. It has proven all but impossible to safely trigger more than one launcher per punch, and thus the Streak Punch system will only trigger one launcher per turn.

Construction

A Streak Punch system is, like a machine gun array, an item added to other weapons. In this case, the BattleMech must have a rocket launcher (or launchers) of the same size (10, 15, or 20) in a punch-capable arm. Only one Streak Punch is needed per arm, no matter how many rocket launchers are in the arm.

The Streak Punch module may only be mounted in arms of BattleMechs or OmniMechs in conjunction with one or more RLs, and all actuators (shoulder, arm, and hand) must be present at the time the Streak Punch is installed. The Streak Punch (and its rocket launchers) may be pod-mounted.

The only melee attack with which Streak Punch is compatible is punching. It may not be combined with other melee attacks.

Combat

Basic operation is, well, basic: if a 'Mech executes a successful punch attack with an arm carrying a Streak Punch system and has an unused Rocket Launcher in that arm, then a single Rocket Launcher in the arm is fired and the target takes maximum damage from the launcher in the same hit location as the punch.

The system may be turned off in the end phase of a turn so unused Rocket Launchers are not triggered with subsequent punches. Rocket Launchers associated with the system may also be fired normally as ranged weapons, under the usual RL rules.

When used, the sudden mass-launch of rockets strains the cooling system of a 'Mech: the rocket launcher generates double normal heat.

There are a number of potential malfunctions in the Streak Punch:

1) On a successful attack that exactly rolls the required to-hit number (not higher), the punching 'Mech takes half damage from the rocket launcher (round down) to the punching arm.

2) If the punching attack rolls a "2," a brushing collision in close combat causes one of the unused RLs in the attacking arm to trigger improperly and explode in the launch tubes. This is treated like a critical hit on a randomly selected RL in the arm, with the addition that the RL inflicts damage to the arm's internal structure equal to its full damage value.

3) Having more than one RL in an arm has proved dangerous due to the heat flash of firing one. If an arm has one or more unused RLs during a successful attack, there is a risk of detonating the unused launcher(s). This only happens if the punching attack rolls above a certain number. The base is 12, and lowered by 1 for each of the following modifiers: -1 for each unused RL in the attacking arm; -1 if the attack is made with an RL/15; and -2 if the attack is made with an RL/20. If the roll indicates a detonation, follow the results of malfunction #2 above.

Statistics

Weight: 0.5 tons
Crits: 1
Cost: 20,000CB
Heat: 0 (but RL heat doubled)

Comments, suggestions, questions, jeers?

[Ghostbear_Gurdel]

I Like it, except with the incredibly low weight of Rocket Launchers you could mount a lot of these on even a light mechs and be doing ridiculous damage. With that in mind, my only real suggestions would be to change it so that when you roll a "2" instead of doing a random crit (because RLs do not explode) the malfunctioning launcher does all the damage to the internals of the mech (or maybe just the armor).

Also I would require a hand actuator, because technically all mechs are punch capable even if they suck at it (like a Catapult)

*edited for grammar*

[Terminax]

Just gotta teach the Catapult how to do the fine art of checking.

And how to uses skates to boot.

[cray]

I Like it, except with the incredibly low weight of Rocket Launchers you could mount a lot of these on even a light mechs and be doing ridiculous damage.

With the requirement of hand actuators (leaving 8 open crits) and the 1 crit for the array, you'd be limited to 3 RL10s, 2 RL15s, or 1 RL20 per arm.

With that in mind, my only only suggestions would be to change it so that when you roll a "2" instead of doing a random crit (because RLs do not explode)

Fixed that.

Also I would require a hand actuator, because technically all mechs are punch capable even if they suck at it (like a Catapult)

A 'Mech without upper and lower arm actuators could carry more RLs for punching, but not all that many: 5 RL/10s, 3 RL/15s, or 2 RL/20s per arm. How long are you going to stick around punching to successfully use all those? Combat rarely lasts long at point-blank ranges since a lot of weapons have low TNs at short range.

[JadeHellbringer]

My only two additions from here:

1) Incompatible with other melee weapons (imagine a TSM Berserker's hatchet strike. Now add an RL-20.)

2) Consider replacing rockets with a single AC-20 round, so as to avoid questions of cluster damage. Think shotgun-shell boomstick for an example.

[A. Lurker]

With the requirement of hand actuators (leaving 8 open crits) and the 1 crit for the array, you'd be limited to 3 RL10s, 2 RL15s, or 1 RL20 per arm.

[...]

A 'Mech without upper and lower arm actuators could carry more RLs for punching, but not all that many: 5 RL/10s, 3 RL/15s, or 2 RL/20s per arm. How long are you going to stick around punching to successfully use all those? Combat rarely lasts long at point-blank ranges since a lot of weapons have low TNs at short range.

Hm? I thought rocket launchers took up one, two, or three slots respectively for sizes 10, 15, and 20...even with a slot spent on the streak punch system itself, that's room enough for, say, seven RL10s on an arm with a full set of actuators. Did I miss errata somewhere?

[cray]

Hm? I thought rocket launchers took up one, two, or three slots respectively for sizes 10, 15, and 20...even with a slot spent on the streak punch system itself, that's room enough for, say, seven RL10s on an arm with a full set of actuators. Did I miss errata somewhere?

My Tech Manual, listed on pg7 as "Version 1.2 on First Printing" (so, second errata?), says on pg342...

1, 2, and 3 critical slots.

WTF was I reading earlier?  #P

Okay, maybe a construction limit of "only on units with hand actuators." :)

1) Incompatible with other melee weapons (imagine a TSM Berserker's hatchet strike. Now add an RL-20.)

That was the intent of linking it only with punches, but I'll make it explicit.

2) Consider replacing rockets with a single AC-20 round, so as to avoid questions of cluster damage. Think shotgun-shell boomstick for an example.

I did, but rockets are easier - simpler mechanism. A single AC/20 "round," after all, can actually be 10 or more shells, so you'd need a full autocannon mechanism and (even with one round) a thick gun breech. One-shot rocket tubes are light.

[cray]

I Like it, except with the incredibly low weight of Rocket Launchers you could mount a lot of these on even a light mechs and be doing ridiculous damage. With that in mind, my only only suggestions would be to change it so that when you roll a "2" instead of doing a random crit (because RLs do not explode) the malfunctioning launcher does all the damage to the internals of the mech (or maybe just the armor).

Okay, addressed all your points, GBG.

1) All arm actuators are now required, minimizing space available.
2) I reviewed Tech Manual and found the correct value of RL critical spaces. :)
3) Malfunction #3 means that 'Mech rolling into battle with 7 RLs and a Streak Punch in one arm will have a chance of detonating an unused RL equal to: 12 - 6 unused launchers - 1 for firing an RL/10 = 5 or higher.

I think that's about the highest weapon malfunction rate in the game and what you get for using juryrigged Solaris VII products. :)

A better implementation would probably be more like a hand-mounted B-pod, but that'd take too much engineering. :)

[A. Lurker]

I'm not wholly sold on the increased heat buildup; from the launcher's perspective, I'd think a volley fired using this mechanism would be no more or less "sudden" than a launch triggered by pressing a plain old firing button, and with something as simple and bare-bones as rocket launchers I'm not sure I buy into the notion that the "standard" salvo actually does involve something as sophisticated as a pre-set launch sequence carefully timed to limit overheating instead of the much simpler "everybody out of their tube RIGHT NOW!!" approach. At least, I wouldn't necessarily consider it the default for all rocket launcher models out there.

A more serious concern could be that this mechanism has the potential to turn a punch from any 'Mech (or at least any weighing 15+ tons) that mounts it into a headcap. Punch for at least 2 damage, which even one of the classic bugs can do, add an automatic 10 more from an RL 10, everything hits the same location...

[Onisuzume]

A better implementation would probably be more like a hand-mounted B-pod, but that'd take too much engineering.

Why a B-Pod and not an M-Pod?

[cray]

I'm not wholly sold on the increased heat buildup; from the launcher's perspective, I'd think a volley fired using this mechanism would be no more or less "sudden" than a launch triggered by pressing a plain old firing button

I grant that the fuse engineering wouldn't be hard, but two points weigh against it, IMO:

1) The rockets don't all hit or miss on one roll. An instant launch of all tubes should produce a nice, close cluster of missiles - even BT dumbfire rockets aren't as inaccurate and dangerous as Hale rockets. However, they don't. Nor does fiction report they suffer massive fratricide that would result from such dense launches (see the story of the TR:3026 Sturmfeur).
2) I haven't seen a single real rocket launcher pod fire all rockets at once. Zuni and Hydra rocket pods seem to salvo their shots, as do Katyushas and their ilk.  Not saying it doesn't happen, just that it doesn't seem common.

And, frankly, the heat surge was an excuse to balance a weapon that could turn any 15-ton 'Mech into a headcapper.

A more serious concern could be that this mechanism has the potential to turn a punch from any 'Mech (or at least any weighing 15+ tons) that mounts it into a headcap. Punch for at least 2 damage, which even one of the classic bugs can do, add an automatic 10 more from an RL 10, everything hits the same location...

Yes, it does make it a headcapper, which only works at point blank range and is prone to blowing off the arm of the attacker, which makes it about as useless as any added melee weapon.

[A. Lurker]

Yes, it does make it a headcapper, which only works at point blank range and is prone to blowing off the arm of the attacker, which makes it about as useless as any added melee weapon.

Mmm...if I wanted to "game" this system, I'd simply have one in each arm on a dedicated design (or Omni configuration), split the rocket launchers -- RL 10s only, of course -- between them so neither gets loaded down too much, and quite possibly fire off a few already while closing both to inflict damage and to reduce the explosion risk incurred by my eventual "rocket-powered punch". Then if/when I managed to get into melee range, I'd ideally still be in condition to throw two of those in a single phase...and since I only need to knock one head off or hit one suitably vulnerable rear torso with hopefully catastrophic results for the investment to pay off and don't expend any rockets if the punch just plain misses, neither the one-shot nature of the system nor the doubled heat penalty would bother me overmuch. I could still lose one of the arms involved, yes (both if I'm really unlucky), but those would of course hold only the actuators, streak punch system, and RLs, so to an extent they'd be expendable.

Is this balanced relative to other melee weapons? I have a few doubts. That it's basically a one-shot attack for each launcher used isn't much of an issue since melee weapons in general don't come into use much relative to plain old-fashioned weapon attacks and since that's always true for rocket launchers anyway. The added heat and risk of damage to yourself are things we've basically seen before (vibroblades and things like flails, maces or the good old charge/DFA attack, respectively), and I'm only paying half a ton and one slot per arm to get a potentially devastating close-in one-shot punch -- the weight of the rocket launchers doesn't really figure into it since I can always still fire those off normally if no opportunity to melee should present itself, so they're never really "dead weight" even if I never get to streak-punch anybody in a particular battle. Contrast the weight and crits of a hatchet, which I'd have to put onto at least a 50-ton 'Mech with TSM active to get a similar damage boost on a melee hit...

[cray]

Why a B-Pod and not an M-Pod?

...Because I forgot about the M-Pod.  :D

[Onisuzume]

...Because I forgot about the M-Pod.  :D

Fair enough, I guess.
And on the plus-side, you've got less work to figure out how much damage it'd do.

[Sockmonkey]

I did, but rockets are easier - simpler mechanism. A single AC/20 "round," after all, can actually be 10 or more shells, so you'd need a full autocannon mechanism and (even with one round) a thick gun breech. One-shot rocket tubes are light.

You only need a breech if you're going to fire something multiple times. A one-shot weapon can be muzzle-loaded so you don't need all the heavy reinfocement to compensate for the weakness of a breech mechanism.
In any case, you could just replace most of the propellant in an OS SRM with more explosives since it only needs just enough propellant to get it out of the tube. Say for double the damage. Can't see how heat would be an issue for it since it only fires once per battle and so wouldn't need dedicated cooling lines like every other weapon.

[cray]

Can't see how heat would be an issue for it since it only fires once per battle and so wouldn't need dedicated cooling lines like every other weapon.

Well, you can skip cooling lines, but there are some drawbacks:

1) Heat can warp, scar, and otherwise damage materials. Without cooling systems, a rocket launcher on a 'Mech (which are notoriously well-sealed and heat-retaining vehicles) can bake itself into warped garbage. It won't matter at the time of use, but you'll have to replace the whole thing by the next battle.

2) Heat doesn't necessarily stay in one place. Without cooling systems, that heat can do funny things to neighboring propellants and explosives.

You only need a breech if you're going to fire something multiple times. A one-shot weapon can be muzzle-loaded so you don't need all the heavy reinfocement to compensate for the weakness of a breech mechanism.

The reinforcement in the breech of cannons is because the pressure of combustion propellant is highest there. That's why even muzzle-loading cannons heavily reinforced their breechs, as seen in Dahlgren cast-iron muzzle loaders.

Further, please note that BattleTech's autocannons DO fire multiple times: their "rounds" consist of bursts of multiple shells. Noted AC/20s (the Hetzer's Krusher 150mm or the Mechbuster's) fire 5 to 10 shells per "shot." When you pull the trigger on a standard autocannon, multiple bullets are fired. If you only use a single shell from an AC/20, you'd only do 1-4 points of damage, or less.

[Sockmonkey]

Yes, the breech has some reinforcement, but not as much as you would need for one that opens.
Yes, ACs fire multiple times but this is a one-shot weapon.
Any heat that seeps into other systems will get taken care of by the cooling system.
It doesn't matter if the thing gets warped. It's a metal tube that doesn't need any special rifling or materials due to the short range. You can replace it.
I suggested a modded SRM for it but if you're atttached to the AC round idea you can always use four or more barrels.

[cray]

It doesn't matter if the thing gets warped. It's a metal tube that doesn't need any special rifling or materials due to the short range. You can replace it.

It matters if you wanted to use it quickly again, and what your budget is. At 15,000 to 45,000CB per replace RL, that's a large recurring expense.

[Sockmonkey]

A regular RL yes, but this thing is just a metal tube with a range of less than one meter so you can really cheap out on the design. This is why I'd lean towards A modded SRM round in it that does damage from exploding rather than AC rounds that do kinetic impact.

[vidar]

I would like to do this with an m-pod.  Just do the damage as a single 15 point hit.  Yes head caper, but the chance of a punch and then a head hit are low.  But this makes a little 20 ton head capering puncher, but each shot weights one ton and can be used only to 3 hexs.   Not really a game killer as one still has to get close really close.  So I don't find this scary, weights to much, takes up to much space and in only able to used in a very limited time frame.

[Onisuzume]

*shrug*
We can already make 20-tonners with headcappers.
Heavy machine gun array with four heavy machine guns, for example. (4.5+0.5 tons for the ammo)
And it has only slightly better range.
Even without any advanced tech you'd have a 7/11 mover with 3 tons of armour.

[cray]

I would like to do this with an m-pod.

But then there's no rockets involved! :)

That might be simpler, though. Especially if the M-Pod is fired normally, rather than with auto-max-damage.

[A. Lurker]

*shrug*
We can already make 20-tonners with headcappers.
Heavy machine gun array with four heavy machine guns, for example. (4.5+0.5 tons for the ammo)
And it has only slightly better range.
Even without any advanced tech you'd have a 7/11 mover with 3 tons of armour.

Well, you can. Of course, that method gives you (a) a generally heavier weapon combination that (b) doesn't get to roll on the Punch hit location table and (c) isn't actually guaranteed to do full damage even if it does hit the head. So to get your decisive 12-damage headcap this way you'd need to first roll boxcars for location after a successful hit and then an 11 or 12 on the cluster table -- a 1-in-432 chance for any given hit with that array. At that level I think I'll worry more about getting accidentally beheaded/knocked out by plain old cumulative damage. :)

[Sockmonkey]

Wasn't there a rule where all weapons of one type in a single location could be linked so they all went off a single targeting roll?

[A. Lurker]

Wasn't there a rule where all weapons of one type in a single location could be linked so they all went off a single targeting roll?

The Maximum Tech "linking weapons" rule? That's in Tactical Operations these days, pages 85/86. Weapon type doesn't enter into it, though; linked weapons simply need to be able to fire into the same arc(s) and can only fire at the same target (though the whole group doesn't need to fire at once every time). When you attack with linked weapons belonging to the same group, you roll to hit based on the worst modifier among those used and hit or miss with all of them depending on the outcome...however, hit locations are then still rolled individually. I guess the abuse potential of "hey, I'll just link these four medium lasers into an ammo-free AC/20!" was a little too obvious right from the start. ;)

[vidar]

Well I think that the M pod fist of doom should do full damage to one location.  But on a roll of 2+ one for each M pod linked in the system also does full damage to the firing arm.  Do You what to take a 15 point  hit?  The sadistic twist is the more shot you have the more likely the first one blows your arm/torso off. 

[Sockmonkey]

I guess the abuse potential of "hey, I'll just link these four medium lasers into an ammo-free AC/20!" was a little too obvious right from the start. ;)

Heh, true allthough it does seem silly not to be able to do it. Oh well.
Another though occurs to me though. Is it possible to connect two PPC capacitors to a PPC so you can alternate charging them to get the extra damage every round? It wouldn't be broken since you would pay the heat penalty and explosion risk for both. I'm told you can use CASE on the capacitors. Can you?

[Jim1701]

The Japanese Robot Association called.  They want their attack move back!   ;D

[chanman]

My only two additions from here:

1) Incompatible with other melee weapons (imagine a TSM Berserker's hatchet strike. Now add an RL-20.)

2) Consider replacing rockets with a single AC-20 round, so as to avoid questions of cluster damage. Think shotgun-shell boomstick for an example.

2) So a powerhead, in other words

The Japanese Robot Association called.  They want their attack move back!   ;D

Boost Knuckle!

[A. Lurker]

Another though occurs to me though. Is it possible to connect two PPC capacitors to a PPC so you can alternate charging them to get the extra damage every round? It wouldn't be broken since you would pay the heat penalty and explosion risk for both. I'm told you can use CASE on the capacitors. Can you?

No reason I can see why CASE wouldn't apply. It's basically just another internal explosion, after all.

Whether it's possible to have one PPC equipped with multiple capacitors is a bit iffier. The next best thing to a rule on that is from the construction section on TacOps p. 336: "Capacitors can only modify one PPC and do not stack." That sounds like attaching multiple capacitors to the same PPC is in fact technically legal; it's just that there's just no point to it because there's no additional benefit from the second and following one(s). Whether that was actually the intent is something I can't answer; unless TPTB officially rule otherwise, though, I'd say that simply assuming a canonical one-to-one relationship between PPCs and capacitors is probably the least sanity-threatening option. :)

[Onisuzume]

Boost Knuckle!

Power Finger? :D

[doulos05]

No reason I can see why CASE wouldn't apply. It's basically just another internal explosion, after all.

Is it an internal explosion? If it is, then it should always do full damage to the attacker. I thought the damage was from the blowback from the attack striking the target in contact which makes it, by definition, external.

[A. Lurker]

Is it an internal explosion? If it is, then it should always do full damage to the attacker. I thought the damage was from the blowback from the attack striking the target in contact which makes it, by definition, external.

Pssst...re-read the actual question I was replying to. :)

[doulos05]

Pssst...re-read the actual question I was replying to. :)

???  :-[ Ooops. Right, nevermind.