Converting Weapon Scales (Not Just Damage!)

[archhealer]

So, some of my payers have been asking me if there's any way to get custom or special order vehicle weapons, made to be used/carried by infantry. Personal weapons that do vehicle scale damage (Gee, I wonder why they want these). Now, I'm aware that they'd be huge and bulky, not easily portable, etc. But are there any? Scaled down versions, that sort of thing.

I know when you mount a personal weapon on a vehicle, the converted size is the weapons weight in KG=Vl. Does the reverse hold true? How about light mortar tubes, single shot (More if they've got ammo to reload) that can be slung over one's back? Too heavy?

Frankly, these guys are determined to find a way to take out vehicles without using any of their own. And while it should be hellishly difficult, I dont' want to make it flatly impossible. Even RAM launchers using HEAP rounds have little chance of seriously damaging an AR8 or AR9 vehicle.

 

[Rover]

There is a reason modern soldiers do not carry vehicle mounted weapons in today’s army. They are not physically enough strong enough to carry the weight or handle the recoil. PC who want to use such items on a person level should have some kind of augmented strength. That is why in T20 battle dress counts as a vehicle.

Yet there are plenty of weapons that a single soldier can carry that can harm / kill an APC. Some are crewed by two or three men, An anti-tank rocket, or large mortar may have one man carry the tube, another the mount and a third the rounds.

You can always house rule some things, a larger version of the Ram, just make it heavier and less legal and concealable. Another mod I’ve made is changing the LAG from a personal weapon to a Vehicle weapon. It is basically a 20MM cannon after all. Just don’t get caught by the local police with one.

R

 

[archhealer]

Ok, see, that's what I'm wondering about. you suggest anti-tank rockets. T20 has no stats for such things. Unless... I'm missing it?

 

[tjoneslo]

In TA6 (Against Gravity) there is an expanded list of vehilce weapons. Take the 1.5Mw pulse laser it's only 50vl (and 50kg) does 1d10 vehicle scale damage. A modern battery (from the vehicle design sequence) holds 50 shots and weighs another 0.4 kg.

The 2.8Mw pulse laser is 90vl and does 2d10 vehicle scale damage. The same battery hold 30 shots.

 

[veltyen]

90kg is in the wheeled carriage class.

Of course the wheeled carriage would be replaced by the free standing remote-control grav vehicle with single forward facing fixed weapon with an armored cowl for the operator position. Functionally the same thing though.

Since it only needs to match infantry speed the grav drive is tiny, and the entire weapon and carriage should only be in the order of 200-500 vl (ie about the same size as battledress).

IMTU I use a simple algorithm to scale weapons. A weapon a thousand times larger is starship scale, a weapon 32 times larger is vehicle scale. Each extra dice doubles the weapon size. 2^5 is 32, 2^10 is 1024 (rounded to 1000). This felt about right for me.

A standard 4kg infantry rifle (d12) becomes a 130 kg vehicle scale rifle (6d12) with becomes a 4000 kg heavy vehicle/starship scale weapon (11d12).

 

[Rover]

Originally posted by Archhealer:
Ok, see, that's what I'm wondering about. you suggest anti-tank rockets. T20 has no stats for such things. Unless... I'm missing it?

No you are not missing it. If you want to run a military campaign with Anti Armour weapons you'll just have to house rule a few things. Start with the Rockets on the Vehical weapons table as a base (Pg 246 I think) and work something up.

Take a look at http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m47-dragon.htm for a liitle RW info.

Remember heavy armour does not operate on its owm. Tanks will be backed up troops in AFV's and air support. Your PC's will be a little hesitant to take on tanks if a thier position is scraffed by a air raft with a VFR Gauss Gun.

Happy gaming!

R

 

[archhealer]

Oh, I have the vehicluar formations they're up against all worked out. Usually a full patrol of infantry, four or six light armored support vehicles, and two or four heavy armor support vehicles. These patrols will be sent out of a larger formation, usually consisting of two or three large siege vehicles and at least one refueling/repair vehicle. The PCs currently think they're going to steal one of the siege tanks. heee hee heee. That should be a fun session, once they track the damn things down. (They're currently stuck in the desert trying to drive home in what's left of their own vehicle and one of the light support vehicles that was only partially disabled)