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Originally Posted by juris
Tractor with a flatbed trailer? Why not shoot out the rear armor and kill the crew (crew are behind engine and will be hit first)?
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Normally that would be an option but the flatbed is carrying ISO containers (which are higher then the cab back). Of course that does limit the ability of the laser turret to target the rear arc. Full on for the tail-end Charlie, but he only has a couple of MMLS front, worth the risk?
Quote:
Originally Posted by juris
Are you letting cycles use CA and winshells? Then they aren't cannon fodder. If it's an initiation then just throw road misers at them but that's a really dumb initiation.
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Definitely CA round driver (possibly round plant), windshells are too expensive and heavy. It's a trade off though, to have enough armour you need a heavy cycle, by the time you have done that you would have been better buying a trike.
It is probably moot though. The offensive weapons in the convoy are a Blast Cannon on the front man, a linked pair of Heavy IR Pulse Lasers in the turret of the tractor and a pair of linked MMLs in the tail end Charlie. An attack from the rear-quarter of the tractor means you only face the MMLs, but almost certainly a side attack, if they hit, they are going to strip those 10pt armour blocks quickly and if they miss then you don't need armour. If that turret hits you, you are going to fry.
As for a dumb initiation, it depends on the purpose of the initiation. If it is to force "Loud-mouth" to prove himself it may be a win-win. If he comes back victorious the gang scores some serious salvage and you know you can invest proper resources in him and maybe put up with his bragging. If he doesn't come back, it just cost you some cheap bikes rather than some expensive hardware for a little peace and quiet. It might also put some of the others back in their box for a time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by juris
Can they go a bit off-road to avoid drops? The answer should be yes since they pick the place of the ambush. If not then 2-3 cycles up front with dropped weapons can do serious damage.
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There is nowhere where you couldn't go off-road at some point (that would also allow concealment for the bikes to get into position). Taking a risk of underbody damage (tires are solids so immune to off-road damage) is far better than running into mines. Spikes will have no effect on solids of course unless you go explosive tipped and then you are starting to burn money.
You can also pull up in very little space without taking tyre damage if you are travelling at sensible speeds (55 or less), that means your bikes will need to be within 6" of the truck when they start dropping in order to get a counter under the wheels. No-one is going to drive until they are within 6" of you and if you start more than 6" away slowing to get them 6" away is going to look awfully suspicious. Plus you will be 6" away from the front man with the Blast Cannon which probably won't end well for you.
Remember the last attack that we group-planned here had a mine and ice dropper coat the road. He dropped only 1 set of counters before he got counter-attacked, lost a wheel, fishtailed over his won mines and then vaulted. Even thought I allowed him to continue to drop them as he flew through the air (which in hindsight is pretty implausible) they didn't end up in a direction that was useful and the rig that was only 1" behind him was able to avoid the majority of the counters. It didn't loose a single wheel or have its under armour breached.
The bikes would have to be riding line abreast, something that screams road coating. All the convoy needs to do is slow down and wait. This would work if the bandits were hired to slow the convoy down, but even then it's a pretty low threat.