Excerpts from FT: 18-Sep-97 Power Armour Design System .. by "Steve
Pugh"@pop.dial.pi
> Warhammer 40,000 Space marine PA.
Well, I don't know a whole lot about SG2, but I *can* tell you that
Space Marine power armour is environmentally sealed (ie, gas/bio weapons
theoretically have no effect) with a fairly hefty air purification system,
with a pair of "air reserve bottles" (most of that backpack they're wearing).
In addition, the Marines themselves have a couplke of implants to deal with
poisons and toxins, if you want to include that.
(Source: rulebook for Space Marine, 1st edition.)
This is a set of examples of PA designed using the system in Part 1. If you
haven't read it, I suggest you do that first.
Examples from SGII rulebook. These should all turn out to be Heavy PA.
NAC: D12 armour 6 pts. 12 movement 3 pts.
x2 Close assault 2 pts.
36 hours air supply 3 pts.
Medical. -
Weapons Mount (MLP) 1 pt.
Total: 14/15 pts.
NSL: As NAC except 48 hours life support.
So 15/16 points.
ESU: D10 armour 4 pts.
6 movement -
x2 Close Assault 2 pts.
12 hours air supply 1 pt.
Medical -
Weapons Mount (MLP) 1 pt.
Weapons Mount + Cargo
(RFAC/1) 3 pts. (at least)
Extra air supply bolt ons 1 pt per 12 hours. Total: 7 points for basic suit.
At least 10 points for RFAC/1 suit.
Well, I wanted to use 5 points per level for the 'official' setting, so that
menas that Heavy PA is 11 to 15 points. The NAC suit is perfect. The NSL suit
is too good; either it can't have MLPs or the MLP troops must sacrifice air
supply or close assault capability. The ESU suit is meant to be a poor
relation, but it does have the ability to carry really haevy weapons...
I am thinking of saying that HMG type weapons (stats will be posted soon) take
one cargo space and a weapon mount, whilst class one heavy weapons take two
cargo spaces and a weapon mount, or maybe only 1 cargo and 2 mounts to account
for the greater recoil. Either way the ESU's RFAC suit will then take 11 or 12
points.
There is no reason why the ESU suit can't be Heavy PA despite the fact that it
takes less than 10 points. Blame it on bad design, or say that the ESU suit
has lots of cargo carrying capacity and is used
to keep non-PA troops equipped with ammo, missile reloads, etc.
Some more examples:
Warhammer 40,000 Space marine PA. D10 Armour 4 pts.
6 movement -
x1 close assault -
Filtration -
Total: 4 points. Hence Light PA. The models look like they could be Medium PA,
but Rhinos etc. do carry identical numbers of marines and imperial guard so I
guess they are light. Unless Space Marine PA has a self contained air supply
that I've forgotten about.
Terminator PA. D12 Armour 6 pts.
6 movement -
x1 Close Assault -
Air Supply 1 min.
Vacuum Proofing 2 pts.
Weapon Mount (Cyclone) 1 pt. Total: 9 minimum. In a 'low tech' setting like
Warhammer 40,000 where technology is bulky, using 4 points per level of the
suit is reasonable. Hence Terminator armour is Heavy PA, as we all knew it
should be.
I would count a Power Glove as giving a +1 die shift in close
assault. Ditto for the hammer thingy. If you're feeling generous you
may allow the ubiquitous Power Glove/Power Sword combo a +2 shift.
Just to make it a bit different I'd make the Lightning Claws suit into a x2
close assault modifier, thus requiring 2 extra points, but we have them to
spare unless we give them over 24 hours life support.
Aliens Power Lifter. D8 Armour 2 pts. (The miminmum allowed in my system.) 8
Movement 1 pt. (Estimate.)
x2 Close Assault 2 pts.
(It could go toe to toe with an alien queen.) x3 Cargo 6 pts. (It could carry
a lot by design.) Total: 11 points. Heavy PA in a low tecg setting like
Aliens.
Normal Space Suit. D8 Armour 2 pts.
6 Movement -
x1 Close Assault -
Air Supply 1 minimum.
Vacuum Proofing 2 pts.
Total: 5 points minimum. So except in high tech settings an EVA suit will be
medium PA.
(Probably want to add a rocket pack of some sort for another 2 or 3 points and
maybe some cargo carrying capability, but this can be done and still keep it
under the Heavy PA boundary.)
Cheers,
> Aaron wrote:
> Well, I don't know a whole lot about SG2, but I *can* tell you that
Already handled by the Filtration entry. A gas mask is a gas mask, whatever
you call it.
> with a pair of "air reserve bottles" (most of
So give them 12 hours air supply.
Makes the suit 5 points and Medium PA. Suits the models better, but you now
need 15 capacity points in a Rhino. (Which is okay, except when you sneak an
extra 5 Imperial Guard in and surprise folks....)
> In addition, the Marines themselves
Nothing to do with the Power Armour itself is it? Hence, not my problem,
someone else can come up with rules for that.
The alternative is to ignore common sense and what the models actually look
like and instead to base our designs on the supposed technology of the
background. In this case the Imperial forces are very high tech (despite
having never heard of stealth or sloped armour, etc.) and we can say assign
six points to each size class. Hey presto, Space Marine PA is still light, but
can have an internal air supply.
Cheers,