Battle Dress and Powered Armour - What's the difference?

[FallingPhoenix]

Near as I can tell from a brief go-over of the relevant chapters, Battle Dress gives you a bonus to Dex and allows you to mount vehicle weapons on it, whereas Powered Armour doesn't.

If that bonus to Dex is something like the armor reacting to actions/threats partly on its own programming, I could see that being a significant difference. Maybe the mass of mounted vehicle weapons? But the latter would only apply to some Battle Dress...

If there's no longer a separate skill for Battle Dress (as discussed elsewhere), should there really be a difference in "Powered Armour" and "Battle Dress" or should they be folded into one thing?

 

[-Daniel-]

This is just an opinion mind you, but I don't see them as different things so much as different points along a spectrum.

Old armour start the line, then unpowered suits, then move to powered suits then to Battle Dress, then armoured walkers. So the only difference in my mind is one of degree. That is also why I had agreed with the suggestion we bring back the skill slot held by "Battle Dress and call it "Powered Armour" It would cover all powered armour as well as Battle Dress and even some of the light armoured walkers.

At this point I think Matt has made it clear the skill is not returning and they are all covered by Vacc Suit.

 

[FallingPhoenix]

At this point I think Matt has made it clear the skill is not returning and they are all covered by Vacc Suit.

Right, and even though I think there's a strong case for a Battle Dress skill, that's actually not what I was hoping to focus on here.

The current distinction between Powered Armour and Battle Dress seems kind of artificial to me, but if I understand what you're saying, it's something like the difference between light battle dress and artillery battle dress? Powered Armour is like Xtra-lite Battle Dress?

 

[-Daniel-]

The current distinction between Powered Armour and Battle Dress seems kind of artificial to me, but if I understand what you're saying, it's something like the difference between light battle dress and artillery battle dress? Powered Armour is like Xtra-lite Battle Dress?

That's how I see it. To quote the intro for powered armour in the CSC Armour chapter; "There is a class of armoured suit falling between unpowered combat armour and the extremely advanced battle dress rigs; these are collectively called powered armour."

So for me, they are just a stage in a progressive range. Of course, as I said in my post above, this is just how I see it. But it helps me wrap my mind around the whole batch.

 

[Infojunky]

Ok, In my mind, and too many hours playing and Running Traveller from too earlier an age, Battledress is the powered extension of Combat Armor and Powered Armor is the akin to the heavy MI battlesuits of Starship troopers (The Book). But Mongoose reverses that, or at least that is how I read it.

 

[MongooseMatt]

So for me, they are just a stage in a progressive range.

That is the intention.