Weapons interface conundra - SG2

Here are a couple of points that fascinate me:

Infantry attacked with a 20-30mm RFAC take hits rolling d8 impact.
Infantry
attacked with a HAMR (12.7mm probably) take hits rolling d12. Infantry
hit
with a SAW firing (presumably) a 4-8mm projectile take hits rolling d10
impact. The same d8 Impact is applied if I get hit by an RFAC/2... a big
ass
penetrator like that fired from the GAU-30 on the A-10. I pretty much
think
one of these would leave a softball sized hole through any infantryman.
As
it is, if the troops have good armour (d8), it's got about a 50/50
chance of
doing nothing to them. 

A HAMR is more deadly to light armour than an RFAC which I assume is
patterned somewhat after a Bushmaster or other chain gun - which is for
killing light armour!

An RFAC with enhanced (which I assume means more than 2183 average) FC
rolls
d8 + quality to attack infantry. If this is something like a bushmaster,
that might make sense. If it is a Vulcan... that seems kind of weak.
Especially when a SAW rolls d10 for FP. Seems to me I know which I'd
choose
to be shot at with - I've seen the Vulcan in action vs. infantry mock
ups.
Death incarnate. 

The system kind of fenced itself into a corner by doing d10 or d12
impact
from personal weapons, when autocannons and such get as low as d10
(actually
d8 when firing at infantry because it uses the dispersed targets rule).
Even
if it was d10, it is significantly less than would be just, given a d10
from
a rifle! 

The same is true on the firepower front. Which would you rather have: A
manually fired SAW rolling d10 or conceivably d12 for FP, or a basic
fire
control RFAC rolling D6? The manually fired SAW will be loosely
equivalent
to the SAW of today (faster RoF maybe, better accuracy, but limited by
the
human). The basic FC of 2183 should dwarf our FC of today, and I'm
reasonably sure that a Vulcan backed by modern FC (even if it is an
optical
sight!) is way worse to have pointed in the direction of your squad than
a
single SAW.... only the game doesn't reflect that well. 

There would, I figure, be several ways to address these several points:

1) Rewrite the weapons so basic impacts are not d8s or d10s to allow the
low
end ACs and stuff a more just shake. This is of course a ground up
solution
and would involve a new set of weapons tables, though not necessarily
any
change in the mechanics.

2) Allow ACs to get their vs. vehicles impact (though this is still a
shortcoming given the impact of the HAMR or the d10 for an AAR) when
firing
vs. infantry. This isn't a full solution, but it at least helps a bit to
redress an imbalance. 

3) On the firepower side, assign an FP rating to small RFACs and GACs.
Use
this in place of FC when firing at infantry units. I'd suggest d10 for
RFACs
and d12 for GACs. (or 2d6 and 2d8 if you are willing to diverge a bit
from
standards).

4) If the FP/FC die is more than twice the defenders die, then use
double
the impact of the heavy weapon (it is a contact hit rather than a
fragmentation hit). This means in the case of an RFAC, use either 2d8
(if
sticking to the original dispersed targets rulings) or 2d10. Of course,
if
multiple casualties are inflicted, only one is resolved as a contact
hit. 

Just some ideas to try to straighten out the roll of the RFAC and GAC.
As it
is now, ror firing at infantry, I'd surely rather have a guy with a
non-stabilized, non-sighted SAW firing for d10 FP and d10 impact than a
guy
with a stabilized, sighted RFAC firing for guidance FC (d6 to d10... at
max
equal to the SAW) and d8 impact. 

Thomas Barclay
Software UberMensch
xwave solutions
(613) 831-2018 x 3008