Vehicular Weapons are weapons which are mounted on combat vehicles, including Heavy Gears, tanks and aircraft. Most are predominately projectile-based, not only because they are simpler and more efficient to build and maintain, but they can also withstand greater punishment. More "advanced" weapons such as railguns and lasers are less common on ground vehicles, due to atmospheric interference and/or energy requirements, but the opposite is true for space combat as these "high tech" weapons are far more efficient hitting distant targets in the vacuum of space.[1]
By Type[]
Cannons[]
Cannons refer to any weapon which fires one or more projectiles through the use of a chemical explosion.[2] However, gel-type binary propellants have all but replaced old-fashioned solid propellants in the 62nd Century, being more stable and efficient. On larger cannons, an elecro-boost system provides constant energy discharge that ionizes the propellant throughout the barrel, creating a plasma "shockwave" which pushes on the projectile. Rifling has also been replaced with smooth-bore barrels, with each shell deploying fins and a residual rocket boost to provide superior stability and accuracy. The standard shell has a molecularly-aligned steel alloy tip for maximum penetration at all ranges, but a variety of special rounds can also be fired out of most cannons.[1]
- Light Machinegun
- Heavy Machinegun
- Light Autocannon
- Medium Autocannon
- Heavy Autocannon
- Light Field Gun
- Heavy Field Gun
- Snub Cannon
- Fragmentation Cannon
- Disposable Pack Gun
- Anti-Personnel Mortar
- Light Guided Mortar
- Heavy Guided Mortar
- Anti-Personnel Grenade Launcher
- Light Grenade Launcher
- Heavy Grenade Launcher
Rockets and Missiles[]
Thanks to their small size and high damage potential, rockets and missiles are popular military weapons, and many vehicles will mount at least one rocket pod as a back-up weapon. Unfortunately the prevalence of electronic counter-measures and point-defense weapons tend to limit their battlefield effectiveness. Rockets have minimal to no guidance system, while missiles use semi-active or fire-and-forget guidance systems.[1] The standard ammunition is a high-explosive, shaped charge warhead, but many special payloads can also be carried instead.[1][3]
Close Combat Weapons[]
These weapons are only efficient when fighting at short ranges, essentially hand-to-hand combat between Heavy Gears.[3]
Bazookas[]
Bazookas are a special type of heavy rocket cannons. While providing hard-hitting firepower in a combat situation, they tend to carry few shots.[3]
Laser Weapons[]
Laser weapons fire a beam of coherent energy in the near-visible frequency range. Lasers are incredibly accurate, an almost line-of-sight range, and require no lead-time, making them perfect for anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense. Their efficiency is impaired by atmospheric particulates, and they are very energy-intensive devices, making them impractical for most front-line vehicles.[3][4]
Magentic Acceleration Cannons[]
These advanced weapons use electromagnets to accelerate a projectile to incredible velocities, improving accuracy by flattening trajectory and reducing lead time. The shells fired are small chunks of shaped composite or plastic which use a metal "skirt" that propels it along the magnetic field. While highly destructive, these weapons are energy-intensive, which limits how many shots can be fired before their dedicated capacitor banks must be recharged.[3]
Particle Accelerators[]
Particle weapons emit beams of atomic particles at near-lightspeed velocities, which cause damage both from their physical impact and electronic disruption. Most will include a laser system which "burns" an ionized path to the target, but they still lose some of their energy to atmospheric interactions and require lots of power to operate.[3]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Heavy Gear Technical Manual, p. 22-23
- ↑ Heavy Gears Rulebook (First Edition), p. 134
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Heavy Gears Rulebook (First Edition), p. 138 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "HGR1e138" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "HGR1e138" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "HGR1e138" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "HGR1e138" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "HGR1e138" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Heavy Gear Technical Manual, p. 25