Intended to be used with the modified autocannons in the TW Equipment Tweaking thread. Posted here instead of there because this is an entirely new piece of equipment, and also because that thread is months old at this point. Link to that thread:
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=67081.0
Autocannon Recoil CompensatorIntroduction Date: 2650
The AC Recoil Compensator follows the introduction of the successful UAC/5 nearly a decade after its original introduction. The original UAC/5 drastically improved the effectiveness of the Autocannon; while the fire rate remained essentially unchanged, advanced recoil management mechanisms implemented in the Ultra Autocannon allowed for far more accurate fire, helping to make every shot count. The Autocannon Recoil Compensator is an attempt to bring some of the improvements to the common standard autocannon in a modular add-on package. The AC Recoil Compensator was well received, mitigating much of the inaccuracy inherent in the autocannons once installed. However, being an add-on upgrade for a weapon not originally designed to use it, an Autocannon with an AC Recoil Compensator is still not as effective as a UAC designed with the recoil management devices from the ground up.
The supply of AC Recoil Compensators was kept artificially low by the Star League, who exclusively used them to modernize some of their older hardware. After the collapse of the Star League, the Recoil Compensators went extinct during the Succession Wars shortly after the UACs, and were rediscovered around the same time as well. The Clans, though they never "lost" the AC Recoil Compensator technology, prefer their own native UACs and modified LB-Xs and so don't use the technology on front-line units.
Weight: 1 ton
Space: 1 crit
Tech Level: Standard
Tech Base: IS
Game Rules: Any AC equipped with the Autocannon Recoil Compensator removes the +1 to-hit penalty that is inflicted when used in rapid-fire mode. Additionally, most alternative ammunition types (Precision, AP ammo chief among them) are not designed for use with the AC Recoil Compensator device, and so a safety mechanism prevents Rapid Firing these types of ammunition. (Firing at the regular fire rate still works fine, however).
Construction Rules:Standard, Light, Protomech, and LB-X ACs can all install the Autocannon Recoil Compensator at the cost of 1 extra ton and 1 extra crit slot on a Battlemech. The equipment must be placed in the same slot as the Autocannon that the AC Recoil Compensator is enhancing.
Combat Vehicles, Dropships, and Fighters consider the enhancement as part of the weapon system, for the purpose of tracking weapon slots.