FMA World War II

Damo, 

It'd be kinda hard to come up with FMA stats 
for weapons when the basic firing mechanics 
have two to three different iterations (and the 
final one may not exactly resemble either of 
those). The game hasn't been published yet, 
formally, and the version in playtest A) doesn't 
resemble the original manuscript released way 
back in details and B) may not resemble the 
final cut. So to come up with stats for a system 
in flux seems kind of interesting.....

(Questions: Would you use fixed FP and range 
bands (5) or would you use 2 or 3 range 
bands (of variable size by weapon or fixed) 
where FP varies with RB? These kinds of 
fundamental decision really impact how you 
describe a weapon in a game... you sort of 
have to have fixed game mechanics before such 
a description makes sense....)

In general, think of it this way: 

Most bolt action rifles are (give or take) good 
long ranged weapons with a fair bit of punch. 
Some (like the M1) are a bit faster firing. Then 
you get into things like the MP-44 which are a 
bit lighter in punch, but still relatively longer 
ranged and have a bit of RoF improvement. 
Then we get down to SMGs firing pistol bullets - 
High RoF, not a lot of accuracy, a decent 
impact, but not much range. And of course 
then you have your support weapons. 

Once you've decided on your fire mechanics, 
you can treat most of the rifles as similar to 
whatever your default bolt action rifle in the 
generic mechanic is. You can then treat the 
assault rifles (MP-44/BAR) as perhaps having a 
bit more firepower. SMGs should all be more or 
less equivalent to your generic SMG. 

For instance, if I was using 5 range bands (with 
D4 to D12 range dice in defence) and a set FP, 
I'd consider (RBM is range band multiplier so 
that weapons with good range characteristics 
get to fire further):

Bolt-Action Rifle: FP d6 (M1 perhaps D8), 
Impact D10, RBM 2.0
Sniper Rifle: D10 FP, Impact D10, RBM 3.0
MP44: D8 or D10 FP, Impact D8, RBM 1.5
BAR: FP D10, Impact D10, RBM 2.0
9mm SMG: FP D10, Impact D8, RBM 0.5
.45 SMG: FP D10, Impact D10, RBM 0.5
LMG: FP D12, Impact D10, RBM 2.0
HMG: FP 2D10, Impact 2D10, RBM 3.0
9mm Pistol: FP D6, Impact D8, RBM 0.5
.45 Pistol: FP D6, Impact D10, RBM 0.5
Trench Shotgun: FP D6(3 separate dice), 
Impact D8, RBM 0.5
Flamethrower: FP D12, Imp D12, RBM 0.5 (or 
a fixed max range of about 8-10")

Armour: D4 for just about everyone. 

----------------------------------------------------
Mr. Thomas Barclay
Software Developer & Systems Analyst
thomas.barclay@stargrunt.ca
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