Mines and how their Density works with Damage?

[Charistoph]

So, getting ready for a monthly campaign with the players being Clan pilots starting Operation Revival.  Needless to say, I need to have some dirty tricks up my sleeve because Clanners cheat and that's what the Inner Sphere did.

Needless to say, by Clanner standards, Mines are dirty tricks.  However while reading up on them, I'm a little confused with how Conventionally-activated Mines do their Damage.

I get they have a certain amount of Density in the hex, and it degrades when they are used.  That's pretty explicit.  However, Tac Ops doesn't say how much Damage happens to the unit which invades the Mine's space.  I found an answer to how the Damage Clusters, but not on how much overall Damage is Clustered.

If we go by inferment from the Command-detonated Mines, Conventionally-activated Mines only do 5 points of Damage, as that is how much the mine Density degrades.  However, the Density can never drop below 5.

The reading on Inferno Mines seems to indicate that the Damage rating of the Field is based on the Density, allowing it to do the full 15 Heat to a Mech on a medium-sized field.

So would a minefield laid down by a LRM-15 do 15 points of Damage the first time they go off, 10 points the second time, and 5 points the third, or do I just get 3 "hits" of 5 points to whoever was dumb enough forced to go through that hex?

[DevianID]

Thunder LRM15 would deal 15 damage (on a 9+ for that density I believe?--7+ for 30, 8+ for 20, 9+ for 10) to the unit in 3x5 damage groups, rolling legs on mechs or motives versus vees.  Then, like you said, it would go to 10 damage the next time activated.  I thought they could degrade to 0, but i didnt check the rule just now so ill take your word for it.

There are other kinds of mines, though, like command detonated or inferno that work a little different, but it sounded like you were talking about conventional minefields specifically.

Dont forget to pay BV for the mines.  Thunder Ammo has a BV cost equal to how much its max potential mine field value is IIRC--mines arnt free.

[Charistoph]

I'm not too worried about the BV, since this is campaign work with Special Abilities, so BV just doesn't really work.  I'll try to remember it for other nights, though.  (Edit: It doesn't look like Thunder LRMs BV cost any differently than Standard LRMs.)

Okay, is that Damage actually written somewhere that I couldn't see, or is it just to be inferred?  I tried looking in to the Rules Question, but other than the Cluster aspect, I didn't see anything.  I presented it here, first, just in case I actually missed it somewhere.

[Aresneo]

I'm not too worried about the BV, since this is campaign work with Special Abilities, so BV just doesn't really work.  I'll try to remember it for other nights, though.  (Edit: It doesn't look like Thunder LRMs BV cost any differently than Standard LRMs.)

You can find the calculation on Tactical Operations: Advanced Units and Equipment page 198.

Okay, is that Damage actually written somewhere that I couldn't see, or is it just to be inferred?  I tried looking in to the Rules Question, but other than the Cluster aspect, I didn't see anything.  I presented it here, first, just in case I actually missed it somewhere.

It was not included until the last two printings of Tactical Operations: Advanced Rules, according to the Errata it is on page 176 starting with the 6th printing. It is equal to the density of the minefield.


The Battlemech Manual and Battlefield Support Deck rules helped clear things up, as they just get rated based on how many 5 damage hits they do, though those rules have the mines automatically deplete 1 step every time they are set off while the Tactical Operations rules have a roll to see if any mines are depleted.

[Charistoph]

It was not included until the last two printings of Tactical Operations: Advanced Rules, according to the Errata it is on page 176 starting with the 6th printing. It is equal to the density of the minefield.

Ah, that's why I couldn't find it.  I didn't catch it in the TO:AR errata.

The Battlemech Manual and Battlefield Support Deck rules helped clear things up, as they just get rated based on how many 5 damage hits they do, though those rules have the mines automatically deplete 1 step every time they are set off while the Tactical Operations rules have a roll to see if any mines are depleted.

Not really as they operate under a different rule set, so it's important to make sure.  It would be like taking a Light Air Strike as when a Sparrowhawk doing a Strike as the same thing.