Heavy Rifle
The Heavy Rifle is the largest Rifle in the family. The precursor to the modern Autocannon, the Rifle was based on the main guns used by tanks on pre-spaceflight Terra. The Heavy Rifle used heavier rounds and larger propellant loads to fire its shells. The Rifle was phased out of service with most major powers because it lacked stopping power against most battlefield units.[4] Though it has excellent range and (unlike the Light Rifle) the Heavy Rifle can actually damage a BattleMech, its weight and ammunition capacity are no match for standard autocannon. Another drawback is the Heavy Rifle's inability to use the special munitions available to autocannon.
There are reports of some Periphery powers introducing units equipped with Rifles, but these reports were unconfirmed until the introduction of the Arbiter.[5]
Models[edit]
The Heavy Rifle is manufactured on the following planets:
| Brand | Planet | Company | Used by | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian Mark II | New St. Andrews | Meridian Manufacturing | ARB-001 Arbiter | [5][6] |
| Avalon Slugger | New Avalon | Novais Motors | Estevez Main Battle Tank | [7] |
CBT rules[edit]
Under standard CBT rules, the Heavy Rifle only deals 5 damage against BattleMechs and other units with armor hardness scale 10 (or higher). This is due the damage halving (9/2=4.5 ; rounded up to 5).
It still deals 9 damage against structure without armor and less-armored units (such as some support vehicles and units utilizing Commercial armors).
See Barrier Armor Rating or BAR.
Optional buffing[edit]
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As an optional rule, the Rifle could be declared a modernized variant. This would allow it to deal the nominal 9 damage to all targets, almost the same as an AC/10. As the AC/10 is near universally considered to be a bad weapon, and the non-round number works against the Heavy Rifle, this still doesn't make it a good weapon - only barely viable.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tactical Operations, p. 411
- ↑ Second Succession War, p. 102, "Weapons and Equipment Extinction Table"
- ↑ Tactical Operations, p. 383, "Inner Sphere Weapons And Equipment BV Table"
- ↑ Tactical Operations, p. 337, "All rifles subtract 3 from their damage points when attacking any battlefield unit except conventional infantry, battle armor, 'Mechs with commercial armor, and support vehicles with a BAR less than 8. This can mean that the rifle inflicts no damage."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Experimental Technical Readout: Corporations, p. 8, "ARB-001 Arbiter"
- ↑ Technical Readout: Prototypes, p. 100, "ARB-001 Arbiter"
- ↑ Era Digest: Age of War, p. 24, "Estevez"
Bibliography[edit]
- Era Digest: Age of War
- Experimental Technical Readout: Corporations
- Second Succession War
- Tactical Operations
- Technical Readout: Prototypes
