MAV Weapons

 

                The design philosophy behind MAVs is modular construction, and that trend is carried even further in MAV weaponry.  A MAV’s hands, hardpoints, and integrated slots are built with feeds for data and power, when they come into contact with a weapon’s handle or connection point the two devices immediately interface and the weapon becomes controllable by the MAV’s pilot.  Most MAV weapons look like scaled-up versions of personal weapons, though the handles of most can be retracted or removed to make hardpoint mounting easier.  MAV weapons have to be reloaded manually unless put into an integrated slot with an attached magazine.  Also, individual weapons can be ‘locked’ to only respond to one particular unit, but most of the time pilots don’t bother.

 

Statistics:

 

Type:  MAV weapons are divided into four broad categories.  Launchers are self-propelled weapons such as missiles or grenades that usually do damage via explosions.  Projectiles are generally kinetic weapons with a slug of some sort accelerated by explosive propellant or magnetic fields.  Melee weapons do damage by hitting a target directly.  Lastly, Explosives are generally demolition charges that have to be planted directly on a target.

 

Range:  Weapons with Range L are effective to a range of 10 kilometers.  Range M is effective to a range of 1 kilometer.  Range S extends to 100 meters, and Range C is generally the reach of the melee weapon and the unit holding it.  Range T is like Range C, except that Range T weapons require careful and specific placement on a target to be useful.

 

Damage:  The Damage rating of a weapon is its relative capability for destruction.  Most melee weapons add the wielding unit’s Strength rating to damage.  See Armor vs. Weapons for a more detailed explanation of the mostly self-explanatory interactions between the two.

 

Abilities:  Most weapons come with other non-ranked abilities that give advantages and disadvantages to the weapon in question.  A mostly complete listing of the abilities and their effects follows.

 

 

Area Effect – Generally explosive in nature, Area Effect weapons do damage to any targets within a radius of the explosion equal to its damage rating plus its weapon class in meters.  For example, a Light Grenade Launcher (class 0, damage 1) delivers explosions 1 meter in radius, while the Quake Mortar (class 2, damage 3) lays waste to an area 5 meters in radius.

 

Armor-Piercing – Armor-Piercing weapons ignore the first 2 points of Armor.  However, if the target has less than two points of Armor, the unused armor negation does not translate into additional damage. 

 

Guided – Guided weapons, usually missiles, actively seek out their targets and are capable of being fired over and around obstructions, making them very hard to dodge.  However, almost all Guided weapons have the Lock-on disadvantage as well.

 

Spreading – Spreading weapons fill a cone-shaped area with destructive force, whether missiles, bullets, or roaring flames.  The expanded area of the attack makes dodging more difficult, but allows it to hit multiple targets in close proximity.  If the target of a Spreading weapon is struck at point blank (10% of its maximum range), only one target is hit but the damage rating of the weapon is considered 1 higher.

 

Tangle – Effective only against MAVs, Tangle weapons use chemical adhesives or metal cables to restrict the movement of a MAV.  Instead of applying the weapon’s Damage against the target’s Armor, compare it to their Strength instead.  Any ‘damage’ resulting subtracts from the target’s Maneuverability instead of structure points; when Maneuverability is reduced to 0 then Speed (Ground) is reduced instead.  This reduction of ability lasts only until the unit can break free of the restraints.

 

Ammo - Some weapons run through their munitions faster than others.  Any weapon without an Ammo rating is either a melee weapon that never requires reloading, or has enough bullets/missiles/whatever in its onboard storage to last through an extended firefight.  Otherwise, the weapon can only be used the indicated number of times (usually 6, 3, or 1) before being reloaded.  Weapons with the Spreading ability and an Ammo restriction may be fired in ‘single shot mode’ which forfeits the benefits of Spreading but doesn’t count the attack toward its Ammo restriction.

 

Lock-on – Certain weapons require a targeting lock to be used effectively.  To get such a lock requires a functioning sensor package and some time spent pinning down the target’s heat, motion, or electromagnetic signature.  Technical skills can help in this regard.  Without getting a targeting lock, the weapon in question is almost guaranteed to miss.

 

Low Penetration – Some weapons are less effective at punching through armor, designed for taking out soft targets such as light vehicles or personnel.  Any weapon with this restriction counts any target’s Armor rating (if above 0) as being 1 point higher.

 

Slow – Slow weapons have a longer reloading time between shots, usually between five and twenty seconds.  This may involve complicated ammunition, the recharging of railgun capacitors, or other delaying technical difficulties.

 

Static – Due to powerful recoil or targeting difficulties, this weapon may not be fired by a unit in motion. .The consequences of ignoring this restriction may be either destructive or humiliating in nature, depending on the weapon.

 

Unreliable – This weapon has a bad habit of jamming or breaking at inopportune times (not that there’s ever a GOOD time to have a weapon fail on you).  To get it working again will usually require stripping the weapon down with a proper set of tools.

 

 

                There are weapons of every make and kind out there, but these are the most common and/or iconic.

 

Class-0 Weapons

 

                Class-0 weapons are the lightest MAV-scaled armaments, and while their punch may be lacking they can come in very handy in a pinch.  Class-0 weapons see frequent use as integrated weapons.

 

Gavros Armaments 1-3R Chattergun

 

Type: Projectile  Range: S  Spreading, Low Penetration

Damage: 2

 

                The chattergun is essentially a small repulsor-driven gatling cannon, named for the chattering sound its ammo feed and rotating capacitors make.  It has a high rate of fire at the cost of muzzle velocity, making it useful mainly for fire suppression and wiping out light targets.

 

Warpath Industries MUG-6 Light Grenade Launcher

 

Type: Launcher  Range: M  Ammo: 6  Area Effect, Low Penetration

Damage: 1 (0 if using smoke or flare grenades, and double capacity)

 

                A grenade magazine with a compressed-gas launcher, the MUG-6 is considered a distraction weapon at best.  Its grenades are small, too small to be of much use against anything on a MAV scale, but the alternate smoke and flare loads see a lot more use.

 

MAV Cestus

 

Type: Melee  Range: C

Damage: 2 + Strength

 

                The simplest and most ubiquitous melee weapon, the MAV cestus is simply a heavy gauntlet designed to fit over a MAV’s hand to give extra mass to an unarmed attack.  Consisting essentially of shaped metal with few if any moving parts, there is no official design or manufacturer of these weapons, and some models of MAV come out of the factory with heavily-armored fists that serve as cestii.

 

Washburn Aerospace RB Pistol

 

Type: Projectile  Range: M  Ammo: 6

Damage: 2

 

                The design monkeys (a nickname, none of them are actually apes) at Washburn often don’t have nearly enough to do with their time, and so they tend to design whatever whims come into their head.  Most of the time the results are amusing catastrophe, but once in a while a useful concept manages to slip out by mistake.  Case in point - the RB (stands for Really Big) Pistol, which is simply a scaled-up revolver that looks rather like an ancient Colt Peacemaker.  The weapon neither has nor needs power feeds, and the only electronics in it is a gun camera that runs off a solar battery.  The RB Pistol is a popular backup weapon, and some of the gamblers in Longshot have taken to staging MAV fast-draw contests with these pistols.

 

Tycho Munitions SR-13 Swarm Missile Pack

 

Type: Launcher  Range: M  Ammo: 1  Spreading

Damage: 3

 

                The Swarm Pack is your basic box of rockets, intended to saturate an area with explosions rather than worry about finesse.  While the launchers are designed to be reloaded, many impatient users simply toss the whole unit once the rockets have all been fired.

 

Tycho Munitions R-21 Rocket Pack

 

Type: Launcher  Range: S  Ammo: 6

Damage: 3

 

                Known generally as the “Thud Launcher”, the R-21 is simply a six-pack of unguided explosive rockets with a laser pointer.

 

Tycho Munitions Demolition Pack

 

Type: Explosive  Range: T  Ammo: 6

Damage: 3 (Armor-Piercing if planted by Demolitionist)

 

                The Demolition Pack is simply a case of disc-shaped explosive charges, designed to magnetically attach to a surface and detonate via remote.  The charges are designed for precision work, but getting the best results requires experience with demolitions.

 

Omni-Tool

Type: Special  Range: C

Damage: None

 

                The Omni-Tool is a pod-like device that fits over the unit’s hand and contains just about every kind of power tool a technician could need for repairing large machinery.  Most of the time these handy devices are relegated to work crews and repair bays, but the EMC has started making a habit of equipping at least one member of each squad with one of these in case of emergency.

 

Class-1 Weapons

 

                Class-1 weapons are the standard, making up 90% of the MAV weapons made and used on Bellerephon.  As such, they come in the greatest variety.  Many Class-1 weapons are ubiquitous enough that listing specific manufacturers would be pointlessly long-winded.

 

Cable Speargun

 

Type: Launcher  Range: S

Damage: 4  Ammo: 3 Tangle

 

                This chemically-propelled weapon fires a quartet of metal spears linked together by reels of high-tension steel cable.  The spears diverge in flight, and if all goes well their cables wrap around a target, restricting its mobility.  At point blank range the Tangle ability is ignored and the spears do 2 regular damage to their target.

 

Chainsword

 

Type: Melee  Range: C  Armor-Piercing

Damage: 2 + Strength

 

                The chainsword is a fairly typical melee weapon, a large sword-like blade edged with a chain of synthetic diamond teeth.  A messy weapon (particularly when fighting Typhons), but popular.

 

Chaingun

 

Type: Projectile  Range: S  Spreading

Damage: 2

 

                The typical chaingun is a repulsor-driven gatling much like the chattergun, but its heavier capacitors and longer barrels give the weapon more punch against armored targets.  The chaingun’s ammunition comes in large drums, and rarely needs replacing during a firefight despite the weapon’s high fire rate.

 

Flamethrower

 

Type: Projectile  Range: S  Spreading

Damage: 2

 

                The flamethrower is a weapon designed for intimidation value, and it tends to scare the crud out of Typhons and MAV pilots alike.  Very few people like to be set on fire, even if their armor could theoretically handle it.

 

Kagura Rifle

 

Type: Projectile  Range: M

Damage: 2

 

                The Kagura magnetic rifle is the standard projectile weapon of the Pegasus Guard.  It’s not flashy, but it is consistently effective and very sturdy.  The Elite Mobile Cavalry, however, disdains it as a ‘grunt’s weapon’.

 

Javelin Missile Launcher

 

Type: Launcher  Range: L  Ammo: 6  Guided, Lock-on, Unreliable

Damage: 3

 

                Javelin missiles are a preferred armament for recon and fire support units, as they permit a squad to lay down a significant barrage from well out of harm’s way.  Unfortunately, the clamps in the loading mechanism sometimes stick, refusing to let go of a missile even after it’s been loaded into the firing chamber.

 

Pike Missile Launcher

 

Type: Launcher  Range: S  Ammo: 6  Armor-Piercing

Damage: 3

 

                The Pike missile trades propellant for shaped charges that punch through enemy armor on impact, making it a deadly short-range weapon.

 

Sharpe Rifle

 

Type: Projectile  Range: L  Ammo: 6, Slow

Damage: 3

 

                The Sharpe Rifle is a marksman’s weapon, often carried by recon units.  Its high-end magnetic accelerators require several seconds between shots for cooling and recharging. 

 

Class-2 Weapons

 

                Class-2 Weapons are the newest additions to the arsenal, and so far they have only been deployed with the new Black Prince command MAV.  Sooner or later Class-2 weapons will arrive on the open market, but it will require a great deal of retrofitting before the available MAVs will have a prayer of meeting the power and mass requirements to use these larger and more powerful weapons.

 

Crusader Sword

 

Type: Melee  Range: C  Armor-Piercing

Damage: 3 + Strength

 

                Rather than simply issue a larger chainsword to the Black Prince, Heidelberg Industrial Research instead developed a more elegant weapon.  The Crusader Sword is designed with a vibration generator and a specially-tuned carbon crystal edge.  The weapon is effectively ‘sharper’ than a chainsword despite its cleaner operation.

 

Galahad Rifle

 

Type: Projectile  Range: L  Lock-on, Slow, Static, Unreliable

Damage: 6

 

                The Galahad is the showpiece of the Black Prince’s roster of armaments.  Firing thirty-centimeter-long rounds of steel-jacketed depleted uranium, the Galahad is a massive railgun nearly as long as the Black Prince is tall.  Its structure is designed to be collapsible, which is fortunate as it would never fit on the slings otherwise.  The powerful recoil of the weapon requires that the unit brace itself carefully before firing, and the heavy capacitor array that powers it is both slow to charge and prone to burning out.  Still, few are the targets that can laugh off a Galahad round.

 

Goshawk Missile Launcher

 

Type: Launcher  Range: L  Ammo: 3  Lock-on

Damage: 5

 

                Goshawk missiles are simultaneously better and worse than Javelins, in that they deal a great deal more damage but have less-sophisticated guidance systems.  Still, they are less prone to jamming in the heat of battle.

 

Hammer Rifle

 

Type: Projectile  Range: M  Unreliable

Damage: 4

 

                The Hammer is a heavy railgun, but it was rushed to production before it was fully stress-tested.  Reports from the field indicate that its barrel doesn’t have enough insulation or sturdy enough casing, resulting in malfunctions of the magnetic coils whenever the rifle is handled roughly.

 

Morningstar

 

Type: Melee  Range: C

Damage: 4 + Strength

 

                The Morningstar is an alternate melee weapon favored by the Elite Mobile Cavalry for Typhon-stomping missions.  Essentially a large spiked mace, the Morningstar favors sheer mass over the ability to slice through armor. 

 

Quake Mortar

 

Type: Launcher  Range: L  Ammo: 6  Area Effect, Guided, Lock-on, Static

Damage: 3

 

                A weapon still in the first stages of field trials, the Quake Mortar is a true artillery weapon in that it is intended to pound enemy formations rather than crack individual targets.  Some concerns have been raised over its relatively-light damage potential, but the HIR is waiting for reports from the field.

 

Wolfpack Missile Launcher

 

Type: Launcher  Range: M  Ammo: 3  Spreading

Damage: 4

 

                A rapid-fire rocket launcher, the Wolfpack can empty its magazine in a hurry but delivers a great deal of punishment in the process.