So... I'm after Lostech.
One of the discussions near the end of the previous Solaris 7 was a custom weapons thread.
I have some names of systems, I even have some stats in terms of tonnage and crits. I'm missing rules.
And the system I really want to recover is a rotary laser system. Lonely Coyote was the author before he passed.
There were 3 sizes of the system, One of them was 5 tons and 2 crits. Possibly it was a Rotary Laser -3. It was a hybrid energy/ammo weapon.
Other names or systems I've pulled out of an old file I was working on are:
Gauss enhanced Narc Launcher. I think it was just supposed to fire beacons to longer ranges.
Weighted 10 tons and 6 crits... So it probably did a bit more then just that.
Megaton Cannon. A system that linked medium lasers so they all hit the same spot.
4 tons and 3 crits for a 15 damage version.
Weapon Clamps. 2 tons. 2 Crits. I think they're supposed to allow hand held weapons to be carried without interfering with the other weapon systems on the mech. Or something like that. Old memories tell me there was supposed to be an artillery pod that goes with it.
Other things that I don't think were part of the original thread.
Mech Periscope. 1 ton 1 crit. Acts as a mast mount so a mech can see over things and spot for its own indirect fire.
Smoke Generator. Create a patch of smoke where you're standing now.
Then I have to wonder why past me decided I needed 8 tons of arrow IV ammo for 1 arrow IV. I mean, I'm not wrong, but it is a bit much as well.
In any case, Does anyone have old memories to help fill in the blanks?
LosTech custom weapons
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- Last Post 28 April 2020
I think the rotary laser was "ammo based" in that it consumed parts. With BTech's magical ability to release kilojoules of energy in fractions of seconds and canonically laser apertures lasting for years, I'd say the "consumable" would be whatever power system or controller that's expected to do all that. If I remember right, the Rotary laser was also a clantech gun.
Hm, not sure about a "gauss" NARC launcher, but since BT's rules are that smaller things go longer (for whatever reason) I'd alter it into a "light NARC"; only a +1 on the cluster table but with all the typical changes a lighter version typically has.
I'd "replace" the periscope for a launched drone, myself. Serves the same purposes and could be "driven" like another vehicle in the firing phase- and could spot for indirect fire- but the unit using it could not fire.
Smoke generator could be "Vehicular grenade launcher 2.0", which would have a lot of use.
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My addition: Chaff Pod 2.0. Still 1 ton, but now actually updated into the 32nd century as a cross between it's forebear and the Vehicle grenade launcher. 4-5 shots, still does the same things as a chaff pod but has 1 hex of "range" allowing it to be "dropped" into a nearby hex to mess with LOS. This way there could actually be a reason to use them over typical ECM and AMS. Maybe fluffed as a single SRM tube and a specialty missile type?
Upgraded Thunderbolts. Adds alternate ammo types like Thermobaric/Inferno, Flak, and ballistic (anti-armor). The ammo wouldn't weigh any extra than standard (Tbolts get SO shafted on ammo) with expanded rules on using other ammo types on things they weren't intended for.
Light AC/10 and /20. The /10 has medium laser range and the /20 is only 2/4/6, making it VERY hard to use on anything that isn't a Legionnaire in terms of speed, and fluff-wise would be the only thing that saves it.
Modular C3. Outgrowth of C3i- stock weight is standard to a C3 slave, but in it's one-ton base it can only share targeting info with 1 other unit. For each 0.5 tons you add, you can add another computer to the network- and the network can routinely change whom it's connected to. Requires LOS and connections must be called at the start of initiative. Like an IS version of the Nova, but lacking AP/ECM
Alternatively, you could go the direction of the iNarc and go bigger and get more range. This may be the only instance of this in BT that I can think of. I would probably go with ER-iNarc, allowing it to use the same specialized ammo as the iNarc. Following the example of the ERLRM this would put the weight and crit space in the ballpark you are thinking of 10 and 6. To balance out the enhanced range a minimum range of 2 or 3 could be added.
Lonely coyote's Rotary laser was a chemical laser system. So ammo was actually ammo. Same concept as any other multi barreled weapon. Cool down time between shots for each barrel gives the ability to have higher rate of fire.
multi purposed Gauss weapon... knowing me there would of been a lot of different ammo types available. The advantage of a low velocity Gauss cannon is the ammo is all payload and no powder. (Kinda like Mortars vs Artillery today.) Bigger bang per tonnage of shot.
Drones are nice. But just a simple sensor mast seems cheaper and doesn't require much thought to use. Unless a bridge is around....
Could go for a vehicle grenade launcher that used ammo. Could add your chaff system to it as well.
Updated Thunderbolts. Cool.
Light Big AC's. I think I had an LRM ammo that did SRM damage at that 2/4/6 bracket once upon a time. LAC-20 would be about what 8 or 9 tons? Hmmm That Megaton laser would quickly replace it. (And wasn't that one yours prince?)
Modular C3. I like it. Though I suspect the Inner Sphere would just make it 2 tons for a lance sized system.
I think I made something like a weapon "bracket" that added 0.5 tons and a crit for each gun put into it, so 6 medium lasers in a side torso could hit one location all at once in exchange for weighing 3 tons more and 12 crits. I think it's weight and space only went up per weapon inside instead of its size? I dunno, that would have been from high school and that was now a decade ago (Talking Heads plays ominously in the distance).
Agreed on the sensor masts. Besides, that tech is already available for helicopters anyway.
I don't know if they'd do that for modular C3, but I think you're right in most designs would just use the 2 ton version. But, a 6-ton computer would allow for connection to 11 others all at once, which Dear GOD that would be a BV sink.
Yeah, the "Light" AC/20 would probably be around 9 tons. The light AC/10 being like 7-8 perhaps? The range of 2/4/6... it's not useless, but for myself in the past it practically has been.
Something that does 20 points of damage to a single location at that low of weight is far from useless considering the use of specialized ammunition that light ACs can take advantage of. The use of a light AC 20 Would mean designs such as the Blitzkrieg new life due to increased weapons and armor packages. it would not be intended for slow-moving units that would struggle to get into range.
As for weight, I think you would need to be at 8 tons for the LAC 10 and 10 tons for the LAC20. This is right in the ballpark of 1/3 weight reduction the LAC2 and LAC5 hover around.
The bracket should have a cap for the number of weapons that can be attached to it, much like an MG array. I would be loath to allow more than 4 lasers to tie into any one system, even then it starts to feel game-breaking pretty fast. Using Prince's example of 6 medium lasers in one location tied to the same system. That is 9 total tons for 30 concentrated damage. The weight to punch ratio is far too strong essentially double that of an HPPC.
Something to consider would be to make use of the missile hit table to determine the number of lasers that hit the target in the same location.
Cluster table and having a max limit aren't bad ideas at all; crit space would still be a big limit, and you could fluff it as an outgrowth of the Machine Gun array at that point. Also, should all weapons in it have the same range? Or be the same type?
When it comes to bigger light ACs, I think that's a fair assessment. 12 tons total for the gun and 2 tons of ammo I think is a good ratio against the other "Big guns" for fast mediums/lights like the heavy PPC; problem is tho, it's range is so poor it's niche is really only on a fast medium, though that's kind of what I was going for anyway. Hilariously, a Legionnaire could carry one as a straight swap for the RAC/5- with a targeting computer and precision ammo, some real damage could be done assuming you can get into range.
Like the MG array, I think you need to require the bracket to be composed of the same weapon. Having a PPC and flamer in the same bracket doesn't make much sense. To me, the bracket still seems out of balance even with the restrictions of same weapon, weapon cap, and cluster table. I think it needs to have a base weight, call it 2 tons, plus a % of the weapons attached to it like a turret. Could be 10% or more. Putting a cluster of medium lasers together should require less support than a cluster of large lasers or PPCs.
The Legionnaire and Blitzkrieg are exactly the kind of mech I had in mind that would be able to really make the LAC20 work. Though fast heavy mechs, masc and improved jump jets allow for some other mechs to get in on the fun.
Shortly before (I think) the old S7 shut down, I'd come up with a concept for a WoB-developed reversed-engineered Heavy Large Laser that fixes the Clan weapon's faults, but at a cost:
They are far heavier than their Clan counterparts (by a factor of 225%), as heavy as the old Binary Laser Cannon weapon system developed in the early 2800s, although it is bulkier than even that antiquated system (by a factor of 25%). However, a double-layered cooling jacket with radiation-absorbing materials sandwiched between them give advantages in heat generation (equal to the Binary Laser) and preventing the high-intensity beam from interfering with the targeting sensors of the firing unit with no loss in damage potential.
GAME RULES: Inner Sphere Heavy Laser
Mass: 9
Crits: 5
Damage: 16
Heat: 16
Range: Short 5/Medium 10/Long 15
Seems too strong versus the Heavy PPC. Does it at least explode on crit or something similar?
It even outperforms the Binar Laser which is experimental tech.
Mass: 9
Crit: 4
Heat: 16
Damage: 12
Range: 5/10/15
Since recent techs have made handheld weapon 'mechs usable, how about some kind of conversion for autocannons into handheld use? All the ACs are fluffed as having their own auto-loaders and sensors to detect jams and such- I could see a kit being made to convert them into something like a lever-action to cut down weight and give stock (and HV) ACs more life.
Only if I can make a Heavy GR handheld bazooka....
Seems too strong versus the Heavy PPC. Does it at least explode on crit or something similar?
It even outperforms the Binar Laser which is experimental tech.
Mass: 9
Crit: 4
Heat: 16
Damage: 12
Range: 5/10/15
...You know, it completely slipped my mind to balance it against its Inner Sphere counterparts, and I only balanced it against the Clan Heavy Large Laser, which it was in-universe based on.
Hmm... How about this: When this weapon is struck by a critical hit, it suffers a catastrophic meltdown, dealing 25 damage to the location it is mounted in, along with another randomly-assigned critical hit to the same location.
Could be based on a chemical or nuclear reaction instead; I know in experimental labs they've excited Halfnium with through radiation to produce heat and energy. Perhaps look for some odd possible-future tech and run with it? Explosions good, but with the proliferation of CASE and crit-sinks like DHS I don't think it's the negative the BV makes it out to be.
I would start at the binary laser stats and tweak it. Maybe its a little bit lighter, but has the heavy laser to hit penalty and blows up?
I would start at the binary laser stats and tweak it. Maybe its a little bit lighter, but has the heavy laser to hit penalty and blows up?
The fluff I'd come up with for it was that the WoB acquired some Clan Heavy Large Lasers and worked to fix it's faults by duplicating the weapons with IS technology and (essentially) wrapping the resulting laser in layers of radiation-absorbing materials (negating the to-hit penalty) and extra cooling jackets to keep said RA materials in place. The result is a devastating, but bulkier and much heavier weapon system.
