Re: [FMA] Costing Explosive Weapons

A Scruffy Drummer wrote:

> The first way gives you:
> GL: FP D8,D6,D4; Close Rng 10"; Impact D10; Blast Radius 1"; Cost 28.
> (I'm thinking of the ones attaching to an assault rifle, and I might
be
> using too short of a range band).

Howdy Scruffy,
I think you need a larger blast radius since 1" in the FMA world equates
to 2 m.
Perhaps boost it up to 2"?

>
> Divide by two and you get the cost of a reload (14), correct?  And a
GL only
> has room for 1 round in the chamber which means you only get one shot
if you
> don't buy additional reloads.

If the cost of	a GL is 28 then I think the cost of a reload at 14 is
way too
high, unless that reload buys you enough rounds to last the entire
firefight.(like a dozen or more).
Individual reloads shouldn't be more than 10% cost of the weapon. (Even
that is
high for a "dumb" round.)

>
> I don't know how to cost the second one, but it gives a better range:
60"
> max.
>
> So the questions are: Do GL equipped troops tend to carry only a few
rounds
> and this cost makes sense?  And secondly, if you use the second method
for
> firing the weapon how do you calculate the cost?

Well having lugged a 203 (either on an M16 or later on an M4) around as
my
weapon of choice for many years I can only say this: When you have a
dedictaed
203 gunner, his basic load was like 28 rounds (and he had a special
vest).
That's a shitload of rounds but oif those you have 1 or 2 flares, 4 or 5
smokes
and the rest HE or HEDP. However as a regular guy in a situation where
where
everyone carries a GL I think that's a bit high. Normally you carry less
rounds
seince everyone has them, so it's maybe 4-8 rounds (40mm rounds are
heavy plus
carrying all that HE makes you squirrely)

Now to complicate matters, the standard assault rifles in the future,
say circa
2180,  (i.e Sturngewehr 58) have only 20 or 30mm rounds which are
smaller but
presumably just as effective than todays GL rounds. Als they are not
loaded
single shot but either in cassettes or (in the case of the SG58) via a
magazine
right in front of the trigger. (and the M40A1 pulse rifle has a reload
tube
similar to a pump shotgun) Judging by the porportion of the mag to the
barrel it
can't be more than 5 or 8 rounds. So in that type of scenario a reload
is
multiple rounds and can be costed a little higher. Still I don't see
troops
carrying more than 2 or 3 mags since they are heavy and you are already
weighted
down by unpowered combat armor plus roudns and porpellant for you rifle,
and
everything else blah blah blah.

BTW Tom and Adrians Auto GL rules:
1. Auto GL

Takes 2 Spaces in a vehicle (size 1 weapon).

This weapon fires the same grenades as the infantry carried grenade
launchers,
but fires them in bursts, and up to much greater ranges. The binary
propellant
system will meter the exact amount of propellant necessary to engage
distant
targets, and the vehicle structure can
absorb greater recoil than an infantryman, hence the longer ranges.

Fires using standard vehicle mounted heavy weapon range bands - so 12"
rangebands against infantry, and 12"xSIZE against point targets. Actual
attack
is calculated as per any normal direct fire (unguided) vehicle mounted
heavy
weapon, with a Quality die and a Fire Control die being rolled for the
attacker,
and a range/cover die being rolled for the defender.  These are not
subject to
ECM, Jamming or Decoys.

Against infantry, weapon does d8 impact over a 2" radius blast area.
Cover is
reduced by one level (due to airburst fusing) unless troops are in
hardened
positions with overhead cover.	If the burst of grenades misses, it will
scatter.  Scatter using standard d12 clock for direction, with12 being
long and
6 being short.	Distance is d8", but the deviation distance
will never be more than half-way back toward the firing platform, if the
direction rolled is "short".

Against point targets, the operator may select anti-armour rounds, and
the burst
of grenades will act as a single point-fire hit, doing d8* impact. This
gives
the Automatic Grenade Launcher an effective, though limited, anti armour
role.

Ammunition, as with other projectile weapons like Gauss and RFAC types,
is
considered unlimited for the scope of a typical Stargrunt battle.

Hope that helps...

Los