Technical Guidelines & Weapon Systems Overview

Technical Guidelines

In the near future, we will be replacing the old Intramecha Tactica articles dealing with battlemech configurations with new material that reflects our strategic overview.  The upcoming series of articles (Technical Guidelines, as they will be called) will contain all the updated information needed to set up a 'mech chassis with the equipment we want to deploy in that role.  The entries will also talk about specific Gatekeeper 'mechs and the most standard uses for those chassis.

As the Technical Guidelines become available, we will be increasing our dependence on our strategies by going entirely "by the book" - in this case, the Gatekeepers Tactical Manual.  We'll be making sure everyone is familiar with these new guidelines by going over them during briefings on Friday and Saturday night.  These Technical Guidelines will be "living" articles as well, and will be updated as needed as time (and patches) march along.  However, they will always be available in the Tactical Manual.

Note that the old configuration articles are still available, and are still quite viable as instructional material.  However, the new guidelines will focus less on generalities and more on Gatekeeper specific builds and roles.  Those configuration guidelines are gleaned from Battletech itself, and ran through an "early-game" filter that contained ideas similar to our Strategic Revision, though not as expansive.

Weapons Systems Overview

In an effort to make things easier going forward, we're going to lay out specific weapon categories for our new role system.  This is a quick overview that does not go into individual chassis tactics for deploying these systems.  Instead, this is just a quick overview of the weapons available to the Inner Sphere in-game and where they apply now that we've in Strategic Revision.  Here they are broken down into new categories and matched to the applicable roles.

Main Weapon Systems
A main weapon is defined by its' optimum range.  Any weapon with a range of 450m or greater is a "main" weapon, even if you mount a dozen other systems.  It is categorized thus because of the importance of long range fire in several of our map strategies.  Battle Line 'mechs should mount at least one of these systems to qualify for that role, though Battle Line 'mechs will also carry a fair amount of Defensive or Ancillary weapons as well.  Direct Fire 'mechs will focus on weapons in this category with less emphasis on close range weapons.

• Large Laser (450m)
• ER Large Laser (450m)
• PPC (540m)
• ER PPC (810m)
• Autocannon-2 (720m)
• Autocannon-5 (620m)
• Autocannon-10 (450m)
• Ultra Autocannon-5 (600m)
• Gauss Rifle (660m)

Defensive Weapon Systems
A defensive weapon is employed only at close range.  A weapon with a range of 200m to 450m is a defensive weapon system, called so even if it is your main offensive armament.  It is categorized thus because these weapons will most readily be used when repelling enemy attacks on our formations.  Close Support 'mechs should mount these weapons (and ancillaries) exclusively to maximize firepower within their range.

• Medium Laser (270m)
• Medium Pulse Laser (220m)
• Large Pulse Laser (350m)
• Autocannon-20 (270m)
• All Short Range Missile Racks (270m)

Missile Artillery Systems
A missile artillery system is any LRM system capable of launching 15 or more missiles in a single volley.  This can be one weapon rack (LRM15) or multiples (LRM5 x3).  Less missiles in a single volley do not constitute a missile artillery system.  Missile Artillery 'mechs should devote most of the chassis' space to LRM systems and ammunition.  Bear in mind that you should carry ammunition that will last through the combat drop, so don't worry about maximizing missile tubes once you find a comfortable fit for your chassis.

• All LRM Racks (1000m)

Ancillary Systems
Weapon systems that do not fall into another category (or whose applications are limited) are labeled ancillary weapon systems.  This includes LRM systems that don't qualify as Missile Artillery and a few other weapons whose optimum range is less than 200m.  Because of the drastic variance in optimum ranges, ancillary systems should only be utilized supporting another weapon system.

• Small Laser (100m)
• Small Pulse Laser (100m)
• Flamer (90m)
• Machine Gun (120m)
• LB 10-X Autocannon (540m)
• All LRM Racks (1000m)

Note that all weapon systems are represented here without any range upgrades.  Range upgrades should be ignored when considering weapon system categorization, i.e. range modules do not change weapon system categories, no matter what the end range is.  The reason for this is simple - not all pilots will have range modules, so we must rely on this basic information.

Hunter-Killers, Electronic Warfare Platforms and Interceptors are special cases and will be thoroughly discussed in the Technical Guidelines.  These 'mechs are more dependent on specific role, and so a mix of specific weapon systems are suggested dependent on weight class.  Stick to your guns, Gatekeepers!