How does armour protect against concussive damage?
Suppose a person wearing battledress (AV12) is hit by a ram grenade (Concussion: 2, Penetration 33C). I can think of several interpretations for how this should work (ignoring burst shrapnel).
a) Sealed armour protects a target from concussion (as an armoured vehicle does) so no damage.
b) The 33C implies a penetration *value* of 40 (33+average of 2D6). Since the concussion damage value is 2, this should mean a penetration rating of 1/20. Hence the AV12 provides 0.6 protection (12/20), rounded up to 1, and the person takes 1D6 damage. The remaining concussion is not related to the direct hit, hence has nil penetration, and has no effect.
c) The 33C implies a penetration *value* of 40 (33+average of 2D6). Since the concussion damage value is 2, this should mean a penetration rating of 1/20. Hence the AV12 provides 0.6 protection (12/20), rounded up to 1, and the person takes 1D6 damage. The remaining concussion (2D6/7) spread around the target's body should be converted to damage dice (divide by 3.5) turned into penetration (multiply by 20) have the armour subtracted (subtract 12) and then be converted back to damage (divide by 20), so that for a roll of 7 (1 point per location) we'd have ((1/3.5)*20-12)/20 = 0.
d) The concussion section says nothing about armour protecting, and the 33C is for vehicle hits. Hence it's 2D6 damage to the hit location, with another 2D6 spread evenly around the target's body.
e) The 33C implies penetration (and damage) of 33+2D6. Subtracting armour means that 21+2D6 gets through (28 on average), each of which is a D6 of damage. Concussion would be on top of this, but is blocked by armour.
f) The 33C implies penetration (and damage) of 33+2D6. Subtracting armour means that 21+2D6 gets through (28 on average), each of which is a D6 of damage. Concussion is on top of this, and not blocked by armour, so take 2D6 to the hit location (to add to the 28D6 or so already there), and 2D6 spread around for good measure.
Personally, I think (e) and (f) seem pretty brutal. They are effectively one shot kills. (a) seems a bit too generous: after all, if I shoot someone with an armour piercing round that could take out a tank, I should be able to do *something* to him/her.
(d) seems easy to use, but would leave there no difference between varying qualities of armour wrt explosions, and make battle dress relatively easy to take down with even low tech grenades. (d) also has the appeal that it suggests: use HE/flechette grenades against unarmoured personnel, concussion against armoured personnel, and HEAP against vehicles. A happy grenade ecosystem.
(b) and (c) seem realistic, but (c) seems to allow the benefit of the shaped charge in the round to affect the "general" explosion, so perhaps is less realistic.
What do you use in your game?
Suppose a person wearing battledress (AV12) is hit by a ram grenade (Concussion: 2, Penetration 33C). I can think of several interpretations for how this should work (ignoring burst shrapnel).
a) Sealed armour protects a target from concussion (as an armoured vehicle does) so no damage.
b) The 33C implies a penetration *value* of 40 (33+average of 2D6). Since the concussion damage value is 2, this should mean a penetration rating of 1/20. Hence the AV12 provides 0.6 protection (12/20), rounded up to 1, and the person takes 1D6 damage. The remaining concussion is not related to the direct hit, hence has nil penetration, and has no effect.
c) The 33C implies a penetration *value* of 40 (33+average of 2D6). Since the concussion damage value is 2, this should mean a penetration rating of 1/20. Hence the AV12 provides 0.6 protection (12/20), rounded up to 1, and the person takes 1D6 damage. The remaining concussion (2D6/7) spread around the target's body should be converted to damage dice (divide by 3.5) turned into penetration (multiply by 20) have the armour subtracted (subtract 12) and then be converted back to damage (divide by 20), so that for a roll of 7 (1 point per location) we'd have ((1/3.5)*20-12)/20 = 0.
d) The concussion section says nothing about armour protecting, and the 33C is for vehicle hits. Hence it's 2D6 damage to the hit location, with another 2D6 spread evenly around the target's body.
e) The 33C implies penetration (and damage) of 33+2D6. Subtracting armour means that 21+2D6 gets through (28 on average), each of which is a D6 of damage. Concussion would be on top of this, but is blocked by armour.
f) The 33C implies penetration (and damage) of 33+2D6. Subtracting armour means that 21+2D6 gets through (28 on average), each of which is a D6 of damage. Concussion is on top of this, and not blocked by armour, so take 2D6 to the hit location (to add to the 28D6 or so already there), and 2D6 spread around for good measure.
Personally, I think (e) and (f) seem pretty brutal. They are effectively one shot kills. (a) seems a bit too generous: after all, if I shoot someone with an armour piercing round that could take out a tank, I should be able to do *something* to him/her.
(d) seems easy to use, but would leave there no difference between varying qualities of armour wrt explosions, and make battle dress relatively easy to take down with even low tech grenades. (d) also has the appeal that it suggests: use HE/flechette grenades against unarmoured personnel, concussion against armoured personnel, and HEAP against vehicles. A happy grenade ecosystem.
(b) and (c) seem realistic, but (c) seems to allow the benefit of the shaped charge in the round to affect the "general" explosion, so perhaps is less realistic.
What do you use in your game?
