TL-13 laser rifle vs. PGMP-12

[Old_Dr_Skull]

I'm doing a little tinkering to use Striker fire combat with CT. I was looking at the TL-13 laser rifle, and was thinking that it was a big improvement over the PGMP-12. Apart from weight, the laser rifle is superior. Am I missing something with Plasma weapons, do they get an area of effect attack in addition to the contact hit?

 

[madmike]

Been a long while since I mucked about with designing weapons. But I do know that a plasma or fusion weapon shoots a bolt or stream of plasma and that should certainly have splash damage of some form, as opposed to a beam or bolt of coherent light.

 

[Travellerspud]

all of the standard man-portable Striker energy weapons listed in book 3 are too weak to do burst damage...

working backwards, the PGMP-12 is a .25mw plasma weapon which yields a burst size of only ~.612 cm at effective range (but fractions round down).

even the FGMP-15 (a .5mw weapon) yields ~.86 cm at effective range....

One could ignore the "fractions round down" part for a house rule, in which case the frag damage would be 16 lower than contact penetration (but at least 1)

For 50% more power, each of these would do burst (1cm each)

 

[robject]

Reflec?

 

[madmike]

I would not think so as reflec would not afford much protection to a blast of superheated plasma. Funnily enough, good old ablat would provide a smidgen of protection but not a lot.

If my character was facing a man portable energy weapon, I would fervently hope he was in battle dress or being shot at by a near sighted assailant with low dice rolls....

I do have blast weapons in my campaign, but they are quite low powered compared to a PGMP-12, which I consider to be more a squad support weapon.

 

[Icosahedron]

I'm sure there was something about plasma and fusion guns using the 'group hits by shotguns' rule to account for spread and splash, but I can't find it now, not even in LBB4. Maybe it was a house rule - the memory plays tricks over 30 years...

As Robject says, Reflec is something of a leveller.

 

[aramis]

Icosahedron: it's certainly in MegaTraveller... but I recall it being in CT as well.

 

[robject]

I would not think so as reflec would not afford much protection to a blast of superheated plasma. Funnily enough, good old ablat would provide a smidgen of protection but not a lot.

Sorry about my overly terse reply. I was responding to the OP, where the laser looked better than the PGMP. However, reflec nullifies the laser, so...

 

[Timmy]

Re Reflec and the TL13 laser

I think you will find that reflec does not nullify a TL13 laser. If you take the striker armour value of reflec (about 10) and compare it to the penetration of the TL13 laser rifle (about 20) you are left with 10 points of penetration. In general, the weapons matrix DMs for weapons vs armour correlate well with the difference between the equivilent striker weapon penetration and the armour value being considered. This would tend to indicate a hit DM for a TL13 laser rifle vs reflec armour of the order of +10.

 

[Omnivore]

Yes but typically you would wear reflec under combat environment suit, AV10 and AV6 stack to an effective AV 16, so only +4 on penetrate for TL13 laser rifle. The armors do not stack vs the PGMP-12, giving it a superior penetration DM of +14 (assuming both at effective).

 

[Timmy]

Is reflec even effective against the x-ray laser that represents?

 

[Travellerspud]

anti-laser aerosols are ineffective at TL 13+

never heard anything about reflec vs. TL 13+ x-ray laser, but then I have always been skeptical about reflec being feasible at all for clothing thickness material that is flexible and bunched up in areas, to say nothing about getting dirty

 

[Old_Dr_Skull]

Ah yes, but wouldn't the laser burn off the dirt, and then hit the reflective surface underneath and then bounce off. Just like wearing reflec under cloth, so you don't have to walk around looking like the great Tin-Foil jump-suit guy.

 

[aramis]

Ah yes, but wouldn't the laser burn off the dirt, and then hit the reflective surface underneath and then bounce off. Just like wearing reflec under cloth, so you don't have to walk around looking like the great Tin-Foil jump-suit guy.

It may detonate that dirt, rendering perforations and blunt-force trauma through the reflec. The rules don't cover that, but it's a real possibility.

 

[madmike]

In my campaign now and years past Imperial Army and Marines in combat fatigue wear "improved" cloth armour (additional DM +1/+2 protection) with reflec sandwiched between ballistic layers. I snatched the armour name of Nemoulon from "Mote In Gods Eye.

It is not available (unless you look very hard in the right places and a thick credit chit) for purchase on the open market.