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09-16-2018, 01:04 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: New mexico
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Body Armor level DR
In High-Tech and the Modern Warfighter Gear article Pyramid #3-57, they list stats for trauma plates which have DR 25 or 35. Based on the descriptions, the DR 25 plates are meant to represent the US Army's SAPI Plates, while the Advanced Trauma Plates in the Pyramid article, at DR 35, seem to be around the NIJ Type IV level. Based on that, what DR rating would NIJ Type IIIA and III plates have? They are intended to stop 10mm Auto/.44 magnum and 7.62x39/7.62 NATO respectively. Would the DR Value be based on the maximum damage produced by guns in that caliber, or the average damage?
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09-16-2018, 01:18 AM | #2 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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Re: Body Armor level DR
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Of course, the level of variability of damage in GURPS is where the realism bit kind of falls apart - in reality, the high-damage events that penetrate armor that's supposedly rated to stop it happen much more rarely than the GURPS damage mechanics suggest. You can just accept this as a place where GURPS goes more for cinematic than reality, or you can use one of the alternate systems that people have come up with over the years. Personally, I'm partial to Douglas Cole's "armor as dice" idea, which you can find in the article "Armor Revisited" in Pyramid #3/34. |
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09-16-2018, 12:33 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Body Armor level DR
Note that, while penetration variability is much lower in reality than in GURPS, thickness of armor is much more variable in reality than in GURPS.
Last edited by Anthony; 09-16-2018 at 12:50 PM. |
09-17-2018, 03:48 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Nov 2014
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Re: Body Armor level DR
Also important is BFD, 2 vests rated to stop the same round, could have allow different amounts, For example NIJ allows for 44mm while GOST stops at 16
so a vest could reliably stop a threat its not rated for, but its BFD would be to high.... something i think wasent taken into account when the rules where written |
09-17-2018, 12:59 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Re: Body Armor level DR
My experience is that commercially available armors rating is conservative. For liability reasons a vest is slightly overbuilt. Gurps is also slightly off in that a standard concealable vest at TL 8 is DR 12, which a standard 9mm can penetrate... but no 9mm round from a handgun is going to breach a modern vest.
Also the weapon being used is a factor. We lost a deputy a couple years ago to a .45 ACP which penetrated his vest... but it was fired from a carbine not a handgun. The vest would have stopped that round from any handgun length barrel no problem. I don’t think Gurps models increased barrel length very well in that respect. |
09-17-2018, 03:09 PM | #6 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: Body Armor level DR
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Granted, High-Tech doesn't explicitly list every possible combination of high velocity ammunition and barrel length, but the fact that various +P and other high powered ammunition in 9mm or .45 ACP can reach much higher Dmg from a 16" barrel than a 5.5" is absolutely reflected in standard GURPS rules.
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09-17-2018, 06:05 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Body Armor level DR
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Note that going to a "armour just stops stuff it's rated for" level of DR will make for fights many people will find frustrating and/or boring.
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