|
|
Post by phgamer on May 4, 2017 11:12:52 GMT
Regarding the Tripod Weapon Malfunction. When a Tripod is dual armed, can he select which weapon he is using before the rolloff?
Part II, are Tripods even subject to Black Dust and Green Gas?
|
|
|
|
Post by boxholder on May 4, 2017 12:47:18 GMT
My thoughts:
I would vote for random determination of the weapon that is hit. My rationale is that most of the weapons would be spraying fire at the tripod or relying on generalized blast effects.
The Black Dust is primarily an inhalation threat, so filtering the air would tend to prevent its effects. Green Gas is stated to be corrosive against organic materials. So the tripods, being metal, would not be directly vulnerable unless they have a bunch of rubber gaskets, seals, and such.
As usual: my US $0.02
|
|
|
|
Post by Burt on May 4, 2017 13:19:13 GMT
Yes, the Martian player selects the weapon that is attempting to fire. A weapons malfunction applies to all weapons on the Tripod. It's like a weapons systems failure. However, green gas and black dust are of no effect to other tripods.
|
|
|
|
Post by phgamer on May 4, 2017 14:22:44 GMT
Where does it state that Tripods are immune to Gas and Dust?
|
|
|
|
Post by gdieckhaus on May 4, 2017 15:58:02 GMT
From the Errata:
Q9) Damaged Tripod shooting (see pg 48)
If a Martian Tripod has lost control of its shooting…
If the Tripod has two weapons, who picks which weapon
is being fired?
(A) The Martian player decides which weapon will
fire before the dice are rolled
Is the Martian’s opponent required to pick a target,
even if only the opponent’s units exist as targets?
(A) No. It’s assumed in this case the tripod fires off
into the air
My take on this is that the martian player can also choose to fire a heat ray in sweep mode (shortening the range of the weapon and making it less damaging to a tripod)
|
|
|
|
Post by boxholder on May 4, 2017 18:09:59 GMT
phgamer:
You won’t find the effects stated explicitly. However,
Page 117 the descriptions of the two state:
“Black Dust is a noxious choking dust that poisons and suffocates those exposed to it.”
“Green Gas is a corrosive gas that dissolves all organic material exposed to it.”
Page 86:
“The deadly Black Dust can only be countered by the use of dust masks which are now standard issue to all troops. These allow the wearer to breathe for up to an hour by filtering out the dust particulates. A separate chemical filter also provides some limited defense against the Green Gas, although prolonged exposure to dense concentrations of the gas will dissolve flesh and perish the rubber of the mask itself.”
(Implication is that dust filters stop Black Dust, but flesh contact is not lethal. Exposed flesh is vulnerable to the Green Gas. "Prolonged" and "dense" are not defined.)
Page 89:
"Armored Infantry squads are gas proof. Black Dust and Green Gas cannot harm them.”
(This is probably due to the total encapsulation of their suit.)
In addition, the photo on page 19 shows a tripod wading into an area of green gas clouds.
(This is something that would not be done if the gas would affect the tripod.)
Because the tripods probably include some air filtration, the Black Dust is no problem for them. And the metal exterior makes Green Gas ineffective against tripods unless there are seals, gaskets, etc made from rubber. The fact that one is wading into Green Gas points toward it not being a problem for the tripod.
|
|
|
|
Post by Burt on May 4, 2017 22:38:04 GMT
phgamer: Page 89: "Armored Infantry squads are gas proof. Black Dust and Green Gas cannot harm them.” (This is probably due to the total encapsulation of their suit.) In addition, the photo on page 19 shows a tripod wading into an area of green gas clouds. (This is something that would not be done if the gas would affect the tripod.) Because the tripods probably include some air filtration, the Black Dust is no problem for them. And the metal exterior makes Green Gas ineffective against tripods unless there are seals, gaskets, etc made from rubber. The fact that one is wading into Green Gas points toward it not being a problem for the tripod. Exactly right! Similarly, a Tripod could drop either dust or gas on an opposing unit at point blank range. It doesn't have to fear or calculate residual hits on itself from an overlapping template. |
|
|
|
Post by hardlec on May 16, 2017 23:11:57 GMT
I would concur that Tripods are not affected by green gas or black dust from another Tripod.
When it comes to a Tripod as a target that has a weapon damaged or destroyed, there are other systems that will be adversely affected by such a hit. A Tripod with a damaged dust projector or green gas thrower could easily acquire a leak back into the tripod body, and the pilot will be affected by either weapon.
If a weapon system is damaged, I really doubt the damaged tripod will shoot at another tripod. On the other hand, I have heard of Tripods shooting dust at another Tripod being assaulted, just like tanks might fire machine guns on tanks of their own unit to eliminate pesky infantry.
|
|
|
|
Post by boxholder on May 16, 2017 23:22:06 GMT
You might note that the Green Gas is delivered by spheres carried externally on the tripod. Likewise, the Black Dust projector appears to be external. That more less makes the possiblity of an internal leak very small.
But there is the possibility that major damage could breach the hull and shatter the spheres or dust projector yielding a lethal exposure. I would think that is subsumed in the damage table for major damage. Exact mechanism doesn't matter if old Marvin is 86'd by the damage.
|
|
|
|
Post by hardlec on May 20, 2017 7:05:27 GMT
Indeed, from the target's point of view, damage is bad. The cause is not that important.
|
|
|
|
Post by madmorgan on May 22, 2017 10:26:21 GMT
Well this brings up a new 'tech' for the Martians to use against Armored Infantry - the shredder. This is a new type of drone weapons that fires shreds of metal at high velocity with the idea that single puncture negates the suits protection against both weapons. These drones typically are deployed against human armored infantry backed by Grenadier bombardments.
|
|
|
|
Post by hardlec on May 22, 2017 22:48:54 GMT
Remember the "beehive" rounds from back in the day?
|
|
|
|
Post by madmorgan on May 23, 2017 9:42:31 GMT
Indeed - a necessity for the poor grenadier in the squad whose M-40 lacked a real anti-personal, in jungle round till its debut. The more modern solution of having a 'M-40' today is it just being part of the M-16, et al, assault rifle mounted under the weapons gun barrel.
|
|
|
|
Post by boxholder on May 26, 2017 20:12:33 GMT
OK. What do the humans get in return if the Martians get "shredder" rounds?
FWIW: Probably the biggest "bee hive" round was one that the Japanese fielded (briefly) in WW-2 as an supplementary AA weapon for BATTLESHIP main battery guns. Didn't work since the guns could not elevate enough to reach divebombers and were not fast enough to be able to track lower altitude targets.
|
|
