RE: [SG,DS] Power Armour Weapon

This is a job for Reason [1].

So I've gone to the trouble and expense of putting
my troops in powered armour [2] and then I equip
them with an MG designed three hundred years ago?

If I need an area-denial weapon [3], I'll issue a
rapid-fire low-calibre plasma weapon. Ideally it
will be adaptable so a quick adjustment will permit
it to fire a bolt capable of melting through the
side of an enemy AFV. If there are overheating
problems with sustained fire, I'll issue a high-
performance low-calibre gauss weapon. Give it a
magentic action and no combustion or friction with
the barrel and it'll go as fast as you want.

If circumstances permit me power armour but force
the use of locally-manufactured medium-technology
ammunition, I'd consider an oversized automatic
shotgun or grenade launcher. If these don't have
the necessary range then I would resort to a low-
calibre gatling weapon. Cue the modern-day
replacements for the Vickers, adding all the
suggestions others have posted. If sustained fire
is critical, don't leave just the one trooper on
sentry duty.

For many of these selections, a backup weapon will
be necessary to deal with armoured targets. I'd
pick an anti-tank rifle designed for use with
powered armour. In other words, more recoil and a
heavier shell than unassisted troops would want,
possibly even a man-portable HKP rifle.

Regards vehicle radiators, I don't understand all
this enthusiasm for water. There's something green
and slimy slopping about in my radiator, and it
isn't just there to act as antifreeze and rust
inhibitor.

1. Ultima Ratio Regum [4] for the Stephenson fans.

2. Two thousand pounds of armour and psuedo-
   musulature amplifying the wearer's movements
   and moderated by negative feedback, just like
   Uncle Bob promised us? Needs a checklist of 
   three hundred and forty-seven items when
   drawn from stores? Item 348: add water to MG? 

3. If you want to deny an area and sustained fire
   isn't necessary, I suppose the first option
   should be a Y-rack mortar firing scatterable
   mines.

4. Termed MD in DS. 3mm strikes me as awfully big
   for a gauss round. I'd have thought a lot less
   would do, as long as the muzzle velocity and
   rate of fire are correspondingly high.

"Drama is an ammunition counter thundering down
 toward zero." - NJG