The scenario was a smaller attack force with heavier mechs was to engage a larger defense group of lighter and more varied units, including armor. Using 3025 tech, and standard rules, the armor testing showed some very promising results for both playability, and enhanced realism. It helped that Excel based record sheets were used to automatically recalculate the resistance formulas.
The results showed the need for a few minor tweaks, but everything pretty much worked out for the best. The following are the basic notions on using this system:
Armor is designed to resist and deflect energy rather than soak it up like a sponge. The idea of vehicle armor made of very thick dense foam to trap incoming projectiles is interesting, but not very effective, which is why real world military vehicles use hardened, sloped, composite armor. Armor can be damaged when its ability to resist damage is overcome - however in general the area of penetration is small and (although the vehicle and crew may otherwise be destroyed) the surrounding armor is still more or less effective.
In game mechanics, armor was assigned a resistance value equal to 25% of its total armor value (rounded to the nearest whole number): This gives the Atlas with something like 40 points of front armor an R value of 10.
Resistance works like this: The damage of the weapon inflicted must exceed the R value to inflict damage. As played if the weapon exceeds the R value, or is the result of a to-hit roll of 12 (NOT modified by skill or bonus) it inflicts full damage [1]. Weapons which hit and equaled the R value inflicted a single point. Weapons that do not exceed this ricochet off, much like rocks, and insurgent machine gun fire do off of a real-world M1A1 tank.
As damage accumulates the armor looses its ability to deflect and shrug off impacts. Armor looses R value as its overall A value drops [2]. Advanced armor types have different levels of resistance vs different attacks [3]. This is subject to further play testing.
Notes from Play:
- Since the conception of this system wasn't entirely clear, full damage was inflicted if the attack overcame the R value. In reviewing this, it may be better to assign marginal damage (Attack - Resistance = Damage). In this case the 12 to-hit roll case would not be applied, but the lower limit (1 Damage) would.
- Intact armor has the capacity to resist a great deal of damage. As damage accumulates the R value is recalculated. Reduce this proportionally to the amount of armor remaining. Use the percentage given to determine current value, or calculate a -R/Damage ration prior to play (with standard 25% armor, each 4 points drops R value by 1).
- Different sorts of armors exist in advanced stages of technology, and in the real world. Hardened armor has been used since WWI/WWII days. The idea being that increasing surface density can lead to armor can provide a higher degree of protection than the equivalent non-hardened amount. This is also combined with sloping to further increase the chance for impacts and blasts to be deflected. Additional armors with composite structures and features have been added to the list over the years... who knows what will be in the future. On a note of interest: Armor with increased hardness (higher R value), does tend to be more brittle and degrade faster
- Using armor resistance values makes tanks deadly! Armored vehicle construction rules do not prohibit excessive layers of protection as standard mech construction does. This is probably to compensate for giving their to-hit chart so many ways to knock them out without seriously damaging them, or perhaps the converse of that is true. Either way, vehicles should be used with certain adjustments, such as decreasing the R value, or giving a max value limit.
I intend to work in adjustments for different armor compositions, and applications - converting the standard/ferro-fibrous, and some of the advanced level 3 types.
Next up: Weapons Overhaul
