Plasma Cannon (stats crunch)

[Rev. Sylvanus]

I have for perusal an LDD rendering of a small mecha hand-cannon that I plan on outfitting onto a couple of my Blue Knights. Here is the concept:



Below are two mock-ups of potential stats. The original concept belongs to one of Warheads Dial-o-Death threads, but I've tried to more fully flesh out some rules/stats rulings.

Plasma Cannon I: Use: 2 + (number of shots) Rng: 12” Dmg: *d6 Shots 1-6
--Plasma Burst: * = 6 divided evenly by the number of targets (one shot per target).
--Cool Down: If only 1 shot is taken in a turn, the plasma cannon requires a 1-turn cool down.
--Adv. Targeter: Halve UR against previous targets.

Plasma Cannon II: Use: 2 + (number of shots) Rng: 12” Dmg: *d6 Shots 1-4
--* = 5 minus the number of targets (one shot per target).
--Plasma Burst: If only 1 shot is taken, it has a 1” blast radius and requires a 1-turn cool down.
--Adv. Targeter: Halve UR against previous targets.

As it stands in these forms, I think I put the CP at 15. I may or may not turn the Adv. Targeter into a unit special ability instead...

Thoughts?

[trebnos1]

It's a really nice build, and I like how you've done the use rating. I'd drop the range to 12" though, it doesn't really look like a long-range weapon.

[Rev. Sylvanus]

Just as a point of reference, it is 1.5 to 2 studs longer than an Assyrian Heavy Laser rifle.

Does the CP cost seem sufficient given the current stats?

[Warhead]

Nice!

Not sure it'll help but here is my own home grown rules.

Not truly a Dial'O'Death concept but you gotta' keep up with the Jones' sometimes.


The Space Marine Devastator Plasma Cannon



The Immortal TechTM Plasma Cannon. It's sort of meant to be similar.









Plasma Cannon

Range: 12" (fairly short for a heavy weapon)
UR: 3+ (Special)
#Shots: 1-6 (Special)
Damage: Varies from 1D6 to as much as 6D6.
Special: Must recharge.

Ok here's the deal. You start with 6D6 damage dice. You can fire that at one target conventionally OR you can split your dice pool in what ever way you wish SO LONG AS ALL DAMAGE ON EACH HIT IS THE SAME.

I.e. - I see three targets within my fire arc. I split the 6D6 three ways = 2D6 damage to each target. Simple. I can not divide the dice as a 4D6 to one target and 1D6 to the others.

If you split your fire at more than one target your UR is increased by +1 for each target over the first FOR ALL TARGETS.

I.e. - In the example above I will be targeting three victims. This adds +2 to hit to the original UR of 3 making the basic roll to hit 5+ for all targets.

It's a lot more long winded on rules than I prefer but you have to have some, sometimes. It's the law. We'll hopefully be seeing this in action during ZZD, call it a test trial.

[Rev. Sylvanus]

Thanks for posting this, Warhead; I might have had your version in mind when I wrote the transcript for the one above.

Has yours been balanced and/or useful?

[Warhead]

I thought it worked well in ZZD as used by the Assyrians but it became a prime target after a few shots so didn't last long after the first few shots and those were all massive single bursts IIRC.

[Rev. Sylvanus]

Thanks for the continued input. I think I'm going to go with the second set of stats I cooked up last night; reducing the single blast's damage but adding a 2" or 4" blast diameter.

Plasma Cannon: Use: 2 + (number of shots) Rng: 12” Dmg: *d6 Shots 1-4
--* = 5 minus the number of targets (one shot per target).
--Plasma Burst: If only 1 shot is taken, it has a 1” blast radius and requires a 1-turn cool down.
--Adv. Targeter: Halve UR against previous targets; ignore normal UR bonus for aiming.

[Warhead]

I tend to try and keep my stats as generic as I can so they're easy to remember. Let me know how you get on, I'd be interested to know as I'm not 100% satisfied with my own and was thinking of dropping the multi-shot feature for the mega-blast only.

[Rev. Sylvanus]

I'll have an opportunity for play-testing next week, so we'll see how it goes. This is by far the most complicated weapon I've thought about using.