AmaroqStarwind
04/28/18 08:28 PM
99.203.155.29
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Introduced not long after the Clan Invasion, the Improved ER Laser used some modifications to the fire control circuitry: Though otherwise identical to an Inner Sphere ER Laser, the weapon will produce less heat when operating inside the range brackets of a standard laser. Additionally, using a similar mechanism to Streak missile launchers or Target Acquisition Gear, the weapon will fire a minimum power beam at its target to guarantee that the full power beam will make contact. Thus, the weapon will not fire except on a successful hit, avoiding unnecessary heat build-up.
The Improved ER Laser remained Experimental Technology because of its high price point and complicated electronics, and is also fundamentally incompatible with Clan ER Lasers (as the reduced power at shorter ranges would also reduce the damage output). When Clan salvage became more widely available, many MechWarriors actually forgot about the Improved ER Laser entirely, though it has started to resurface during the Jihad. As of the Dark Age, regular ER Lasers are becoming far less common.
This modification can also be made to X-Pulse weapons (producing less heat when operating in the range brackets of an unmodified Pulse Laser), but having two separate aftermarket modifications to a single pulse laser can cause system crashes. On an unmodified attack roll of 2, the weapon will be rendered inoperable for the next 1d6 turns while it tries to reboot.
Clan engineers have never bothered with implementing similar modifications to their own weapons, since on most Clan mechs, the extra heat produced by ER Lasers and missed shots is considered a minor annoyance at worst.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
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Edited by AmaroqStarwind (04/29/18 05:14 AM)
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ghostrider
04/29/18 04:03 AM
66.74.61.223
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Don't think this is a good idea.
Having changing damage on a laser do to range should have been in the original game, but then the horizon should have been the range.
The initial targeting beam, like on some sniper rifles sounds interesting, the issue with that, is how does it know it locked onto an enemy unit and not something around it like a tree? Or even a steel pole.
Also. There is no heat if it doesn't fire, yet it is much like a gauss rifle as in, it needs to power up the chamber in order to fire. That is where the heat builds up at, to my limited knowledge. The shot is just releasing the charge, which should actually cool the unit slightly, as you don't have it stored in the unit.
One thing they suggested in the older books, should be true now. The use of aerosols to diffuse lasers and even reflective paint may well fool the system. Granted, it hasn't done so with the streak or Artemis systems.
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AmaroqStarwind
04/29/18 05:32 AM
108.255.82.176
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The low power beam is, like, extremely low power. It's much closer to a TAG than anything else, just powerful enough to touch the target and get reflected back to the scanning apparatus. Hence why there isn't any heat until the real laser fires, which doesn't reflect back towards the firer because it uses a different emission wavelength.
As for the reduced heat at shorter ranges, ER Lasers are actually two-stage weapons according to canon (something that I failed to actually describe in my first post); the first stage basically punches through the air to clear a path so that the second beam is not as obstructed by the atmosphere, enabling increased range, and in the case of Clan tech, damage as well. Because of the initial beam that needs to displace the atmosphere through convection and whatnot, this is also why ER Pulse Lasers are so hard to make and are less accurate than normal Pulse Lasers, because the short duration lasers meant to actually kill the target have to wait for the range extending beam to clear the path first. It's complicated, but makes enough to me, which is actually what inspired this weapon in the first place.
Basically, while a normal ER Laser has two parts, the Displacement Beam, and the Vaporization Beam (because I don't have a better term for it yet), the Improved ER Laser adds a third part, the Scanning Beam. Not only does the Scanning Beam prevent missed shots from occurring, it also acts as a rangefinder to determine whether or not the target is far enough to warrant activating the Displacement Beam in the first place. If it isn't, then the Displacement Beam doesn't engage, and thus unnecessary heat generation is avoided.
Now, regarding how the computer can tell that what the Scanning Beam makes contact with is in fact the intended target, and not a tree or something, that's where the advanced electronics all come into play, and hence why this thing is so expensive (and prone to crashes in the case of the Improved X-Pulse). Or the short version: "Who cares, it's a game."
Now, for Reflective Paint and Aerosols... Honestly, I have no idea. We apparently live in a world where aluminum foam does not cave in like cotton candy in response to tank shells, computers weigh five tons for a megabyte of storage space, and we are loading our state of the art cannons with glorified musket balls... so I guess just roll with it for now.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
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happyguy49
05/02/18 07:58 PM
196.54.41.12
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I'd suggest that this system be an addon or attachment (similar to an Artemis module) for ANY direct fire weapon, energy, particle, autocannon, or gauss. Make it like .5 tons and one crit (clan) or one ton and two crits (IS). One is required per direct-fire weapon you want to act as a 'streak' type weapon (i.e, unsuccessful to-hit roll means no heat and no ammo expended). I like the idea!
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ghostrider
05/02/18 11:23 PM
66.74.61.223
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If you have access to the game Terrain Overlord Government (TOG), they have their system set up so if your targeting laser, which this suggestion seems to be, hits the target successfully, all weapons ignore the enemies shields.
This suggestion seems to be heading towards that type of warfare.
Streaks are bad enough, but what happens when ever weapon you have on a mech doesn't fire if the targeting laser doesn't hit?
No one will ever miss an alpha again, and there would be no potshots as the numbers are too high. Some units are heat neutral, while others are bracket fire. It has a huge potential to be abused.
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AmaroqStarwind
05/03/18 04:34 AM
174.235.30.252
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That's why it is for lasers only.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
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ghostrider
05/03/18 09:16 PM
66.74.61.223
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And that changes the abuse how?
Oh. It means the laser boats would become that much more of a problem as there would be no reason to use anything else. No fire if it don't lock. I rather think loading up with the erll or lpl of clan tech that uses this.
Never overheat, because it is unlikely you will lock with them all.
This is getting into the range of the push this button, collect your rewards.
And speaking of which, what happens with targeting a specific location?
It hits or no wasted shot.
It rather kills the need for worrying about heat.
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AmaroqStarwind
05/04/18 06:38 AM
99.203.154.251
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...well, it also isn't an add-on. It's a specific weapon.
Perhaps I should make the following changes to make it non-abusable.
- - - - - - - - - - -
1. Maybe change it to only produce 1 heat on a missed shot, instead of no heat, and to add an extra critical space to the weapon. And also an extra half-ton for Medium, and an extra full-ton for ER.
2. And have a 1-in-6 chance that the weapon will crash and need to reboot after each shot.
3. And make it a Dark Age weapon.
4. And make it Clan only, but have the range and damage of an Inner Sphere ER Laser. (And the weight of one as eell, so the medium would weigh 1.5 tons and occupy 2 spaces, and the large would weigh 6 tons and occupy 3 spaces).
5. And make it incompatible with Targeting Computers.
6. And make it unable to fire on any target using Chameleon LPS or Void Signature System.
7. And make it unable to fire if it is jammed by ECM.
8. And make it unable to fire if the mech suffers a critical hit to sensors.
7. And give it a +1 Target Modifier on all attack rolls, and have to roll 4d6 and subtract the two highest dice on top of that.
7. And make it so that if you have one such laser on your mech, then all lasers on your mech must have this modification. Sort of like Artemis.
8. And make the scanning laser always on, so even though it is infrared it will still be visible as a red glow to the mark one eyeball (nightvision cameras are like that in real life), reducing Night Time to-hit modifiers against you to +1 and eliminating the Dusk/Dawn modifiers.
9. Also, the laser should automatically come with the Bad Reputation design quirk, "because it was invented for incompetent freebirths who do not know how to aim".
10. And it should have random heat spikes whenever the weapon successfully fires, aka +1d6 heat per successful shot.
11. Perhaps make the weapon "ammunition" based as well (running on a recharging battery), and if the weapon suffers a critical hit in the same turn that it has fired, or if the battery still has energy in it, then, it should explode.
12. Finally, the damage dealt should be variable with range, cluster-based.
- Small: 3 Damage (Non-Cluster) at Short Range, 1/Hit (3 hit cluster) at Medium and Long Range. At Long Range, each hit is the equivalent of a Light Rifle (only doing damage against BAR 8 or less)..
- Medium: 5 Damage (Non-Cluster) at Short Range, 1/Hit (5 hit cluster) at Medium and Long Range. At Long Range, it does 0 damage to Ferro Munchk- I mean Ferro Lamellar armor.
- Large: 8 Damage (Non-Cluster) at Short Range, 4/Hit (2 hit cluster) at Medium Range, 2/Hit (4 hit cluster) at Long Range.
13. Also, it would have a –2 Cluster Hits Modifier at Medium Range and a –4 at Long Range, and like with attack rolls it would roll 4d6 on the cluster hits table and subtract the two highest dice.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
There. It's a balanced weapon now. And by balanced, I mean almost completely useless. But at least it can't be abused now.
...I shouldn't come up with ideas for weapons anymore.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
MechEngine (Alpha) -- On Hiatus
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Edited by AmaroqStarwind (05/04/18 07:22 AM)
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Retry
05/04/18 10:04 AM
64.189.130.11
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There absolutely is no reason a single weapon needs this many additional rules. Way too many to keep track of.
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AmaroqStarwind
05/04/18 10:49 AM
108.255.82.176
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A streak laser weapon is supposed to be balanced and impossible to abuse. I made it "balanced" by making it impossible to use period.
It's what everyone wanted.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
MechEngine (Alpha) -- On Hiatus
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Edited by AmaroqStarwind (05/04/18 10:50 AM)
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Retry
05/04/18 11:40 AM
64.189.130.11
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It's what nobody wanted.
One person thought it should just be a module for lasers in general like the RISC Laser Pulse module or Artemis/Apollo FCS.
Another person didn't think it was a good idea for lasers to have a "streak" capability (he generally is not a fan of the weird post-clan high tech stuff, or even clan tech to some extent).
But nobody wanted yet another pointless weapon that needs a whole rulebook to understand.
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ATN082268
05/04/18 12:02 PM
69.128.58.222
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Quote:
There. It's a balanced weapon now. And by balanced, I mean almost completely useless. But at least it can't be abused now.
...I shouldn't come up with ideas for weapons anymore.
If by balance you mean something along the lines of, "taking everything into account; fairly judged or presented," then a new weapon, armor, equipment etc. can be balanced if it has an accurate Battle Value (BV) because BV takes into account all the other weapons, armor, etc.
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ghostrider
05/04/18 12:35 PM
66.74.61.223
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Maybe not going that far.
Simple gives bonus a +1 or +2 to hit.
The streak ability makes it too powerful and easily abused.
A few things do tone it down some. The Artemis idea helps, needing all on the location (or even unit) have to have one.
Maybe drop a point of damage, and add one heat when used and the result would be a miss. Theory, using part of the stored power to get the lock on.
And the question does come up on why just lasers?
Laser sighting for guns has been something that could very well be used in larger ballistics. Might suggest some variations for different weapons.
TAG like feature that only gives a bonus verses the auto lock. Granted the cluster rounds might not benefit from it, but that is something that would need some debate.
Could make is similar to the target comp, where you need x amount per x weight of the weapons. Missiles don't gain to hit bonus, but add to missiles that hit like the narc or artemis.
And I didn't see anything saying if the targeting doesn't lock, could you still fire? Maybe at a penalty?
Otherwise, you may just have a unit that doesn't fire at all at times.
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AmaroqStarwind
05/04/18 06:22 PM
108.255.82.176
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The reason just lasers is because the TAG and the Laser are both beams of light and could follow the same path, making contact with the target almost instantly.
With projectiles of any kind, there are dozens of variables that could alter the path of the projectile, not to mention that the projectile doesn't travel instantly to the target, and isn't guided on top of that.
And PPCs or Plasma Weapons... Well, they have their own issues where a Laser Sight wouldn't really help too much.
The very original idea for an Improved ER Laser was to just have an ER Laser that didn't waste energy trying to extend the range of the beam when it didn't need to, thus producing the same heat as a standard laser when operating at shorter ranges.
The idea of a streak-like "don't fire unless you know you'll hit" mechanism was just something I thought would make the weapon seem more worth it compared to Clan ER Lasers, since the Improved ER Laser would only have the damage output and range of an Inner Sphere ER Laser. Hence, if you missed, it would only produce 1 Heat.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
MechEngine (Alpha) -- On Hiatus
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Retry
05/04/18 09:07 PM
64.189.130.11
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Not much point to make the IS ER Large "worth it" compared to clan ER Larges, as the Clan ER's are intended to be much better than the IS one in the first place.
I personally don't feel the need for streak lasers and think that should stay missile-exclusive, but that's just me.
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ghostrider
05/07/18 02:24 PM
66.74.61.223
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There is the precision ammunition for ac's, so you can still use a targeting laser for that.
Otherwise the targeting computer would not work with them. Which is semi interesting that missiles don't work with the comp.
And as mentioned in the one thread dealing with things we would like changed, either IS or the clans should obtain equipment the other has and uses, to allow their own building of such after 20 or so years.
And on that thought, why doesn't the IS have the ability to make the clans normal weapons at the lesser weight/critical?
I would point out that normal pistols use laser sighting, but most of the time, they are in a stable position, not running trying to fire on another running target. Even with that, the shot is not instantaneous, but close enough that you can't dodge it.
An additional thought. You could always add a penalty for using ballistics. +1 target penalty for high winds or some such thing. Even +2 would work, as saving ammo along with not wasting heat would be worth it. Though you would have to come up with dealing with the ultras.
If you use the each shot needs to roll, then both should hit, while maybe having the number of hits give a bonus of +1 or +2 on that table.
The idea has some merit, I just don't think lasers really need that much more of an advantage over other weapons.
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Retry
05/07/18 03:08 PM
64.189.130.11
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Quote:
And on that thought, why doesn't the IS have the ability to make the clans normal weapons at the lesser weight/critical?
They do. The Republic of the Sphere builds Jackalopes which are basically pure clan-tech. A lot of Terra's military production facilities were Clan-Tech by the Dark Ages.
It's just not every (or even most) industries available to the IS are Clan-tech capable yet. Evidently, refitting multi-planetary empires is not the easiest thing in the world.
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AmaroqStarwind
05/07/18 05:08 PM
108.255.82.176
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It is still not fully compatible with Clan ER Lasers, because operating at reduced heat when closer to the target would invariably reduce the damage output of the weapon.
But I do get what you are saying with the Inner Sphere being able to produce Clan tech.
Discord: Amaroq the Kitsune#1092
Telegram: @Lycanphoenix
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