Originally posted by Ranger:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
IMTU (Solar Triumvirate Marines):
Fireteam: Gauss Rifles and underbarrel RAM grenades.
Squad: The squad's Grav-APC's VRF gauss gun, disposable ATGL/recoiless rifle (?).
Platoon, Company and Battallion: AV teams (one per Platoon) with heavy anti-armor Tac Missiles.
Regiment: All of the abouve plus a Light Grav Tank Battallion.
Planetary Assault Group: All of the abouve plus space Fighter support.
Looks workable. I'd use disposable ATGLs at the squad level. RRs are a crew served weapon, and the ammo is heavy. That puts two extra people in your squad and a two man crew are probably only going to be able to carry 10 to 12 rounds max (IIRC, Soviet RPG teams usually only had 6 rounds). The PGMP has 40 shots in its power pack and it has an AP of 20, so it can take out light vehicles (at least from the flank) as well. </font>[/QUOTE]Actually in all versions of Traveller I have seen the RAM Grenades have as much pen capability as the Disposable ATGLs. Matter of fact they use the same warhead, in most versions. So the Disposable ATGL is obsolete with the introduction of the RAM Grenade, which virtually every soldier carries. (And RAM Grenades outrange Gauss Rifles slightly so there is no real need for the ATGLs, go to TAC Missiles at Platoon level for your longer range AV capability or put a Tac Launcher on your G-Carrier (Mounted on the side or top of the turret, like the Bradley or BMP?).
I still marvel at the lack of a TL10+ equivalent to the SAW/LMG at the Fireteam level and the lack of a GPMG at the Platoon Level.
Try this in your weapons mix, 1 per fireteam. (TL12) Light TriBarrell, Cost Cr5000, Mass 10Kg, Ammunition 240, Rate of fire, 3/12/30, range (T20 96M, CT Extreme, MT Very Distant) Equipped with a folding Bipod for stability, a single underbarrel RAM grenade Launcher, (Or Shoot Through Ram Adapter depending on how you use RAM grenades IYTU.) and a unique ammunition feed system.
The weapon was designed as a stopgap when the PGMP-12 did not work up to expectations, especially in the suppressive fire role. It is essentially 3 Gauss Rifles welded together. Each weapon has space for two magazines, (For a total of 6 40 round magazines.) The Magazines are set up so that working the pump action slide (similar to a shotgun slide and intentionally sounding just like racking a round on a 12 guage) will eject selected spent magazines and seat the next magazine. Additional full magazines can then be inserted where the recently seated magazines used to be. In theory the weapon can therefore provide almost continous fire, with only a break required to work the slide, with any rifleman in the Fireteam capable of contributing magazines. Experienced gunners usually load one magazine with only 20 rounds, one with 30 and one full magazine, so that only one magazine needs to be changed at a time. Adding all three magazines at once, without an AG can be time consuming.
Each magazine only feeds one barrell, there is no cross feed, but attempts to have a universal feed have met with huge mass gains or maintenance headaches for the small amount of utility, gained. So a 3 round burst will feed each barrell with one round from each of the three seated magazines.
The weapon provided just the right amount of suppressive fire capability at the Fireteam level and added no major components to the Logistics chain so has since been adopted as standard. In Higher Tech Militaries, where the PGMP-14 has become the standard fireteam support weapon the Tribarrell still usually has its place. (Making a fireteam 2 GaussRifles, 1 PGMP-14 and 1 Tribarrell.)
