Generic Question Thread

[Ragitsu]

The second link doesn't work, but in any event, it's neither of those vehicles.

[Kromm]

Few vehicles were expressly made mine-resistant before the end of the Cold War, and most mine-resistant vehicles on the market are fairly recent designs. Note also that they're generally designed to resist buried mines. Off-route mines are another matter, and can be (and often are) rigged from shells. In game terms, a 105mm shell rigged as an off-route mine could marginally defeat side DR 150-450, depending on device design (simple shell-in-a-pipe vs. a properly designed SEFOP device), and be lethal on any DR that falls short of that by more than 20-40 points.

Remember that artillery shells are designed to threaten area targets: forts, towns, and entire formations of troops or vehicles. Direct hits tend to be bad for single vehicles. Hits from shells modified to strike vehicles from below, or direct their entire blast as an EFP or a collimated jet, are worse. Most things that aren't tanks won't stand up to that. Some things that are tanks won't, either, depending on the shell, the tank, and the definition of "direct hit" you choose.

[Ragitsu]

And the filler of the shell itself?

[Wraithe]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

Next: a PC has "Code of Honor: Hippocratic Oath", and I know what it stands for, but I am at a loss for ways to make a test of character relating to it/a situation in which he would have to struggle to uphold it. Any ideas?

Well, it sounds like you're in a "war" environment, so it's going to boil down to:

1. Going into situations causing them to be exposed to hazards where MOST people will retreat & where it might even be the best idea to retreat.
2. Refusing to do things they consider unethical, if it harms someone under their care.
3. Keeping secrets that could be important (Patient Privacy)
4. Aiding the enemy wounded or rival faction wounded.

Examples:
1: Retreating under fire, the group "Medic" hears what sounds like cries from someone wounded calling for help. Time for a test of ye olde oath. What's that? It was a trap? Oopsie. Or not. That time.

2: "Torture the damn Bug! It knows where the chemicals are!" Unless you're dealing with Robots or Undead, this is bad terrain for the old Hippocratic Oath.

3: "Well, all right. Since you ask, I won't tell the commander you're going to die at some Random interval during the big fight/are turning into a Zombie/Are having eye twitches that make you target friends, but YOU should"

4: "Sorry Captain, I don't care if they DID betray us against the Zombie-werewolves, but he's hurt. Execute him AFTER I heal him."

Hippocratic Oath is great for sucking PC groups into situations, and it certainly has a way of putting a big bulls-eye on the oath-taker themselves.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Hits from shells modified to strike vehicles from below, or direct their entire blast as an EFP or a collimated jet, are worse. Most things that aren't tanks won't stand up to that.

Kitbashing an EFP (standoff shaped charge weapon) is not a trivial demolitions task IIUC, although a basic shaped charge that penetrates less effectively and requires contact is not outrageously hard.

Professionally made EFPs are pretty heinous though.

Cutting edge ones are ... impressive. I can't find the reference anymore, but I seem to recall one at Sandia cutting through multiple feet of battleship armor...

A big enough boom will get anything, of course.

[Ragitsu]

When do Armor Piercing rounds (High-Tech) start becoming useful? Is there a certain armor DR range it is best against, and are there times when pistol AP ammo is worth stocking up on? It seems like all one gets is a 1 or 2 point damage bonus on average.

[Ragitsu]

Originally Posted by Wraithe

Hippocratic Oath is great for sucking PC groups into situations, and it certainly has a way of putting a big bulls-eye on the oath-taker themselves.

That it will.

It only helps that doctors are in short supply (not medics, doctors) during the events the PCs will be a part of :-).

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

When do Armor Piercing rounds (High-Tech) start becoming useful? Is there a certain armor DR range it is best against, and are there times when pistol AP ammo is worth stocking up on? It seems like all one gets is a 1 or 2 point damage bonus on average.

Dirt cheap AP, or APHC? Either way, I don't think there's an easy answer other than do the math. Obviously either is a huge improvement against targets that they hurt but solid shot wouldn't penetrate at all.

The question is:
new wound factor * (0.7 * damage - DR/2) > old wound factor * (damage - DR)
(Drop the 0.7 for APHC.)

This gives:
damage < DR * (old wound factor - new wound factor/2) / (old wound factor - new wound factor * 0.7)
(Again, drop the 0.7 for APHC)

And, of course, it doesn't matter what you use unless damage*0.7 > DR/2

Also, all of will be somewhat wrong if you're not using something equivalent to armor as dice, because average penetration for normally rolled damage is always higher than penetration of average rolled damage, and I'm not going to try to solve that for you.

[Ragitsu]

The damage change isn't so much the issue, it's the damage type change that seems to hurt it the most (Pi to Pi-, mostly). This may be realistic, but again, it seems to be of dubious usefulness in play.

[Sam Baughn]

According to a spreadsheet I just whipped up, 9mm APHC is better than JHP at DR 7 or better, but average damage at that point is only 2-and-a-bit HP, so you aren't likely to be amazed at the results. 9mm AP isn't better than JHP until DR 10, at which point you are lucky to get a single point of injury. Against most TL 8 body armour (DR 12 against piercing damage) AP armour is better, but you are going to need a lot of 9mm rounds to actually kill someone.

(Incidentally, why is AP damage *0.7 instead of just -1 per dice, like most GURPS damage modifiers?)