User:LRichardson/Interpolated Autocannons

Abstract

Considerable gaps exist in the selection of ranges and damages of autocannon types. Desired damage values are derived. The various types and subtypes of Autocannon are plotted graphically and interpolated values for 8, 12, 15 and 18 damage are read for standard, LB-X and ultra autocannon types. Battle values were calculated separately.

Purpose

A common comment on autocannons as published is that relative to their actual performance, autocannon are over represented in canon designs. AC 10's lack the one hit kill possibility of a gauss rifle, and AC 20's lack the reach. Indeed, the gulf in performance between the 10's and 20's is so wide that it is something of a stretch to see them as part of a continuous spectrum.

The fluff description of autocannons describe them as being put into general classes where the size of a single shell is irrelevant. That is to say an AC-20 may represent 10 shells doing 2 points of damage each all to the same location or it may represent two shells doing 10 damage, or any other combination of values adding up to 20. Personally, this has never been much of a satisfying description as with only a minor exception here and there the rules behave as though a single shot from an AC is exactly that, a single shot. Realistically, insofar as that term applies to a sci-fi game about giant robots slugging it out on 31st century battlefields, autocannon would be possible in a pretty much continuous spectrum of damages.

Nonetheless, likely for practicality reasons the number of weapon types in the early incarnations of BattleTech were kept limited. Initially there were no "types" of autocannon. The AC was an AC 5 and that was the only one. CityTech was where the AC/2, AC/10 and AC/20 were introduced. Even a brief look at the stats for these weapons reveals a strong set of trends. As damage goes up, mass and size go up, heat goes up, range drops, shots per ton drops, ect. With this in mind, I've set about trying to fill in the gaps between autocannon sizes to give a little more variety of choices within the existing technology paradigm.

Basis

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Graphical Results

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Observations

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Tabulated Results

These tables list the result of the graphical interpolation of the plotted trendlines of canonical autocannon weapon stats. Battle Value and Ammo Battle Value are BV1 and are not interpolated graphically but are instead calculated via Heavy Metal Pro version 5.22 R03. Calculated results for both Tactical Handbook and Total Warfare versions of LB-X and Ultra autocannon have been listed for completeness.

Standard Autocannons

Type	Level	Heat	Damage	Min Range	Short Range	Med Range	Long Range	Mass (Tons)	Critical	Ammo/Ton	Weapon Cost	Ammo Cost	Weapon BV	Ammo BV
Autocannon/8	1	2	8	1	5	11	16	11	6	12	175000	5500	105	13
Autocannon/12	1	4	12	0	5	9	14	12.5	8	8	220000	6500	165	21
Autocannon/15	1	5	15	0	4	8	12	13	9	7	250000	8000	178	22
Autocannon/18	1	6	18	0	3	7	10	13.5	9	6	280000	9000	179	22

LB-X Autocannons

Total Warfare

Type	Level	Heat	Damage	Min Range	Short Range	Med Range	Long Range	Mass (Tons)	Critical	Ammo/Ton	Weapon Cost	Ammo Cost	Weapon BV	Ammo BV
LB 8-X AC	2	1	8	1	6	13	19	10	5	12	340000	11000	125	16
LB 12-X AC	2	3	12	0	6	11	17	12	7	8	445000	13500	201	25
LB 15-X AC	2	4	15	0	5	10	15	13	8	7	495000	26000	222	28
LB 18-X AC	2	5	18	0	4	9	13	13.5	10	6	555000	18500	232	29

Tactical Handbook

Type	Level	Heat	Damage	Min Range	Short Range	Med Range	Long Range	Mass (Tons)	Critical	Ammo/Ton	Weapon Cost	Ammo Cost	Weapon BV	Ammo BV
LB 8-X AC (THB)	3	2	8	1	7	13	19	10	5	12	350000	12000	126	16
LB 12-X AC (THB)	3	3	12	0	6	11	16	12	7	8	445000	14000	193	24
LB 15-X AC (THB)	3	4	15	0	5	9	14	12.5	8	7	505000	19500	206	26
LB 18-X AC (THB)	3	5	18	0	4	8	12	13.5	9	6	560000	26000	213	27

Ultra Autocannons

Total Warfare

Type	Level	Heat	Damage	Min Range	Short Range	Med Range	Long Range	Mass (Tons)	Critical	Ammo/Ton	Weapon Cost	Ammo Cost	Weapon BV	Ammo BV
Ultra AC/8	2	3	8	0	6	11	19	12	6	12	275000	11000	169	21
Ultra AC/12	2	5	12	0	6	11	17	13.5	7	8	355000	13000	284	36
Ultra AC/15	2	6	15	0	5	10	14	14	8	7	405000	16000	302	38
Ultra AC/18	2	7	18	0	4	8	12	14.5	9	6	450000	18000	302	49

Tactical Handbook

Type	Level	Heat	Damage	Min Range	Short Range	Med Range	Long Range	Mass (Tons)	Critical	Ammo/Ton	Weapon Cost	Ammo Cost	Weapon BV	Ammo BV
Ultra AC/8 (THB)	3	3	8	0	7	14	21	11	6	12	330000	12500	196	24
Ultra AC/12 (THB)	3	5	12	0	7	13	20	12.5	8	8	450000	17500	335	42
Ultra AC/15 (THB)	3	7	15	0	6	12	17	13.5	9	7	510000	22000	365	46
Ultra AC/18 (THB)	3	9	18	0	5	9	14	14.5	10	6	565000	27000	351	44

Bibliography

• Tactical Handbook
• Total Warfare