Light Armor Infantry upgrades (12/06/2007)

[Hiromoon]

-old stuff-
Okay, so I was, once again, watching the Starship Troopers movie, and I'm left to wondering (like every single time before) why didn't hey have any heavy weapons. I'm not talking about rocket launchers or the fixed emplacements... What I'm talking about are light machine guns and similar devices you'd think would be "standard" for a light infantry company. Now, we see at the end of Starship Troopers a gun that looks like an overbown shotgun that apparently fires explosive rounds. In the second movie, which apparently takes place 5 years after Starship Troopers, we have some new weapons. Here's a quote from the Filmmaker Q&A:

We do bring back the dropships as a rescue vehicle. There are new weapons replacing the standard Trooper issue Moritas. There are more advanced pulse weapons that allow a fewer number of troopers to dispatch more bugs. The infantry uses the rifle-life weapons and the officers have handguns. The fortress, Hotel Delta 1:85, where the troopers await pickup is a bunker constructed of steel and concrete. These units are rescue stations that are dropped into hostile territory where there is no cover. The planet, Zulu Angel, has huge flat deserts with terrible corrosive and abrasive electrical storms and these stations are equipped with resources to allow troopers safety from attack until rescue/pickup. -- Phil Tippett

So, pulse weapons? If we play with the Morita rifles we've been issued, thanks to the Animated Series, this gives us something akin to 2nd Generation Magnetic Acceleration technology, right? Also, they have some heavier form of weapon, apparently a heavy repeater weapon.

SW-308 Heavy Repeater
Range: 24"
Damage: 3xD6
Type: Squad
Traits: Auto*
* - Ignores LAMI Condensed Rule

Morita Assault Rifle TW-303-A
Range: 20"
Damage: 2xD6
Type: Squad
Traits: Auto, Piercing/1

The current pieces of euipment we have right now are:
Morita Assault Rifle (TW-203-A) [CAP Troopers, LAMI, Pathfinders]
Morita Carbine (TW-201-S) - [SICON Agents, Fleet Personnel]
Morita Long Sniper Rifle (TW-201-L) [CAP Toopers, LAMI, Pathfinders]

Pictures from SST RPG (copyright Mongoose):

More as this goes on....


Edit: 1 & 2

Edit: 3

New from Tibericorp Industries, the PRISM light rifle takes the firepower once enjoyed by the Bugbroom and Scythe laser cannons and packs it into a light-weight frame that even Invasion Company troopers can handle. While not as strong as it's larger cousins, the PR-201-a still packs enough of a punch to put down even the most tenacious Warrior bug.

PR-201-a PRISM Light Rifle
Range: 20"
Damage: 2D6+1
Type: Squad
Traits: Pierce/1, Auto

 

[cOwgummi]

and I always thought they did the new weapons because the effects for the old ones were way to expensive...

 

[Hiromoon]

Heh... So what do you think past that?

 

[Mage]

Rules are concrete, and the weapons from the second movie can only add ot the game and make it better right?

 

[cOwgummi]

I like the rules and also think that some kind of light machine gun style weapon is necesarry, at least for LAMI (if you really need something like that with PAMI, take a derringer).

So good work, Hiro!

 

[Mage]

I'd like to see more weapons and equipment from the LAMI in future, not to mention a bigger army list about the infantry with more options. I mean, assets are great and all, but I want a bigger platoon army list, like the way the army lists are done in 40K. Not over the top with pointless units, but a few more quality ones. With not just different or extra weapons, but extra stuff on the models and different sqaud names.

 

[Hiromoon]

Well, I was thinking of a Morita Varient as a SAW for LAMI, a precurser to both the Heavy Repeater and the Shredder cannon. I'm constantly comparing the Morita rifles to the XM8/XM416, which have plug-n-play capabilities, so it'd have to be something that's easy to A> Replace barrel components and B> still be capabable of fitting rail accessories on.

So I say the Morita TW-203-M Light Machine Gun.

Also, this should probably entail a creation of a new trait too:

MG / Machine Gun - To take full benefit of this weapon's Rate of Fire, the user needs to take a moment to get the weapon properly set up. After a Ready action, the Machingun's Rate of Fire gives it an additional +1 to damage rolls. (This is for the v1 SST rules of course)

I'm trying to make sure it doesn't do better than a Derringer, though in my opinion the Derringer is kinda crappy for a minigun...

 

[gorkamorka]

They need a chaingun or a heavy machinegun, like a fifty cal that they can carry.

Good research.

 

[Hiromoon]

Emphasis on light infantry, Gorka. Sure, a heavy MG would be good, but we're approaching Derringer territory there.

We could also do stuff from the SST Video Games... percursor Marauder suits and advanced weaponry that PAMI can use too...

 

[Soulmage]

If Moritas are rail guns, why are all those spent shell casings being ejected in the movie???

Or was that simply a decision by the psych warfare department to build in a system for the weapon to expel shell casings simply as a means of intimidating the opponent? Or maybe its an inefficient way for the troopers to keep track of how many rounds they've fired by counting all the shell casings on the ground? :lol:

 

[Hiromoon]

Well, remember the movie had budget limitations. Origionally they were supposed to be in power armored suits. In the second movie the weapons didn't have ejected shell casings.

Edit:
Anyone remember the weapon at the end of the first movie?

Apparently it's supposed to be a 2nd Generation Morita. There's speculation that it's a Microwave Acceleration Gun. I say it's a honking beast that makes things explode...


Additonally, here's another little tidbit (looted, like the previous picture, from the now two years out of date TrooperPX)

2nd Generation LAMI armor? Doesn't provide as much cover as even the PAMI Styker armor, but it's a vast improvement over traditional LAMI equipment... We can also use that in lew of the suits from the SST game.

Now for a blast from the past, how many of you remember SST:TA?

 

[darklord4]

Reapeter question:
Is the auto trait still limited by condensed training? Seems the LAMI would have even less time training on the heavier weapons as they seem to spend most of their time with a medic. Maybe there is some sort of LAMI vets squad that lived more than their first mission that has had time to train to use the heavy weapons more effectively.

I have been wanting to do bug conversions from the Recent SST video game. Maybe I'll bump that up in the modeling queue...

Those SST:TA pics are really inspiring for some modeling...

 

[Hiromoon]

The repeater ignores the condensed training due to high rate of fire. Not as much fire as one of the miniguns, but enough that even an accountant can cover a wide area.


Also, I was thinking of making some Black Shirt LAMI, basically LAMI permenantly attached to the SICON infrastructure... Personal security forces for SICON Agents, giving them access to this experimental technology.

 

[Elvis in Combat]

This is a great topic Hiromoon thanks for posting it!

The repeater ignores the condensed training due to high rate of fire. Not as much fire as one of the miniguns, but enough that even an accountant can cover a wide area.

I really sense that the 308 should have a longer range. Not much, maybe 24"? It just seems so short for such a nice long barrel. :twisted:

I think I need to make a conversion.

Also, I was thinking of making some Black Shirt LAMI, basically LAMI permenantly attacked to the SICON infrastructure... Personal security forces for SICON Agents, giving them access to this experimental technology.

OK, now this is cool too. I don't think I'd play bugs for quite awhile with all your ideas to try out! 8)

 

[Hiromoon]

Okay, we're going with 24" range for the heavy Repeater. (I've updated the first entry with the new stat line)

SICON LAMI (Black Shirts)
SICON Agents are occasionally granted use of Light Armor Mobile Infantry squads as personal cadres, given that Power Armored troopers have the tendency to out manuver the lone SICON Agent, and anything else just tends to move even faster. LAMI assigned to SICON Agents are typically called Black Shirts, given their tendency to wear darker armor.
Black Shirts get access to the latest in weaponry, ranging from the SW-308 Heavy Repeater and Morita Assault Rifle TW-303-A to Morita Light Rifles (as featured from the SST:TA game).

SICON LAMI Platoon Structure:
SICON Agent (1)
SICON LAMI NCO (0 - 2)
SICON LAMI Squad (3 per officer)

Support Options
SICON Medium Armor Mobile Infantry Squad
- PL 1: 0 - 1
- PL 2: 0 - 2
- PL 3: 0 - 3

 

[Elvis in Combat]

By definition you've made my Light MI a Sicon force. My Lights wear black armor! 8)

How about making it easier and allowing the weapons with any LAMI platoon that includes a Sicon Agent?

That makes them SICON LAMI.

I would think SICON would keep a platoon leader and the platoon together and assign it whole to a Sicon Agent. Unless the Platoon Leader was a Sicon Agent as well?

 

[Hiromoon]

Well, technically an SICON Agent attached to a LAMI Platoon doesn't make those LAMI the same as SICON LAMI. He's just a tag along.

SICON LAMI have the Agent as their CO. I'm making a write up as we speak. Basically, they're getting some Improved armor as well.... nothing as good as PAMI's equipment, but if you're the CO of these guys, wouldn't you want to fit them out with all the wiz-bang stuff?

 

[Elvis in Combat]

OK, I get your point now. In the rules he's a tag along IIRC, doesn't command the force. A "Sicon Agent" is in command of the Black Shirts, no protocol to make nice with the platoon leader needed.

Yes, if they get more than a couple of weapons upgrades then it will make much more sense.

 

[Hiromoon]

Oh, you get two 'overall squad' upgrades, then you get to the goodies. I'm hoping these things pan out... I think it'd be really need to try this in a 'Kill Team' style of game where the SICON Agent gets one Black Shirt squad and they have to eliminate something.... you know, a Skinnie Warlord or Forth Dingleberry...

 

[Makoto]

How about keeping it as simple as possible? Ie allow hel flamer, triple thud and mayhaps shredder (although am not too much into the last one) into unit options, at current cost.