What are the suits supposed to do?
* Cover a lot of area, fight anything weaker then them, if they encounter
something heavy, call for the cavalry. Stealth is good for that, flying
is good for deployment or retreats.
* Carry heavy enough weapons to kill a tank equivalent, but are cheap
enough, that if the tank hits some of them first you still come out ahead.
Get enough armor that area attacks become unviable. Flight to get fast,
where you are needed. Stealth is more optional.
* Ambush heavier enemies, or enemies in larger numbers. Essentially a
sniper. Stealth is your primary ability, plus you might want the ability
to get away fast.
* Policing civilans in already held areas. No need for stealth, amror good
enough for typical civilian weapons, flight for chases.
BTW since i just got that idea: If you have good flight abilities with
good endurence, would it make sense to scrap the leg motors and have the
suit hop like a chinese vampire, if you don't want to stay off the ground
long? That would be a suit i'd like to see in a movie.
Johannes
On Wed, 30 Dec 2015, Onno Meyer wrote:
Using the old Vehicles rules, at TL10 and below flight capability for powered
armor or battlesuits comes with serious drawbacks. Ducted fans and power
cells are heavy, fusion rockets have a bad infrared (and visual) signature.
At TL12 and above contragrav and reactionless thrusters are so effective that
any suit would have either internal or detachable flight packs.
That leaves TL11. Flight capability will take a serious bite out of the mass
for armor, stealth, or armament, but it can be done. Is it worth it?
A related question is how much stealth a 'credible' battlesuit needs. With
stealth, I mean radar stealth, emission cloaking, sound baffling, etc. With
an area of 45 sf, basic stealth, basic emission cloaking, basic sound
baffling, and intruder chameleon are 81 lbs. Almost the weight of four spare
rE cells on hardpoints ...
Scenario 1: Flight is suicide, and stealth stops to work the first time the
suit goes prone in the mud. Armor and armament are the main priorities.
Scenario 2: Flight is still suicide, but TL11 stealth should be workable for
suits. Perhaps it includes some self-cleaning top layer. Being unseen is at
least as important as being bulletproof.
Scenario 2a: As above, but with maneuvering thrusters for zero or very low
gravity. The Space Marine variant?
Scenario 2b: Flight packs are an optional extra, they can be swapped for
heavier weapons or more endurance.
Scenario 3: Two-dimensional maneuver is outdated. If you cannot fly, you will
be outflanked by those who can.
Any thoughts?
Regards,
Onno
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