Reference: Tactical Operations: Advanced Rules page 176.
"If a weapon-delivered minefield does not exactly match the Minefield Density Table, use the next highest rating. For example, an MML 3 would deliver a 3-point minefield, and since a 5-point minefield is the next highest rating, players would roll on that row (i.e. 9+); an MML 12 would deliver a 12-point minefield, and since a 15-point minefield is the next highest rating, players would roll on that row (i.e. 8+); and so on."
This passage, and the following passage about density reduction after detonation, raised a few questions with respect to weapon-delivered minefields of nonstandard sizes. It is clear that a minefield of nonstandard size uses the to-hit number for the next highest rating. However -
Question 1: Do they also use the damage value for the next highest rating, or is the damage applied equal to the actual minefield density? I took the table footnote stating that "All minefields apply damage equivalent to their current density" as indicating the latter, but others disagreed, arguing that the "use the next highest rating" passage overrode this.
Question 2: If they do use the damage value for the next highest rating, is the actual minefield density tracked at all, or does it "become" the next highest rating for density purposes? In other words, if I fire three MML3 Thunder LRM shots into a single hex (potentially one at a time across three turns), does it act as a density 9 -> 10 minefield, or a density 15 minefield?
Question 3: If the density is tracked in detail rather than only as multiples of 5, when minefield density would be reduced after detonation, what is it reduced to? Say we have a density 12 minefield that detonates and the following 2d6 roll indicates that it should be reduced in density; is it reduced to density 10 or 7?
