Power Armour Design System
Power Armour in Stargrunt II is large and bulky, taking twice the space of a normal man in a transport APC. It also has some very powerful abilities (such as a times two modifier in close assault) that some players find too much. To allow for some variation in power armour designs I've come up with the following system.
This system has been through several variations over the past year or two and other people have modified it further for their own uses, hence copies of this system on other web sites will probably be different.
| Protection |
|---|
| D8 | 2 points |
| D10 | 4 points |
| D12 | 6 points |
| Movement |
|---|
| 6 (D6x2) | 0 points |
| 8 (D8x2) | 1 point |
| 10 (D10x2) | 2 points |
| 12 (D12x2) | 3 points |
| Close Combat |
|---|
| x1.0 | 0 points |
| x1.5 | 1 point |
| x2.0 | 2 points |
| Life Support |
|---|
| None | -1 points |
| Filtration | 0 points |
| Air Supply | 1 point per 12 hours |
| Vaccuum/Pressure proofing | 1 point |
| Medical Functions | 0 points |
| Other Functions |
|---|
| Shoulder Mounts | 1 point |
| Cargo Load | 2 points per load |
| Totals |
|---|
| 1-5 points | Light Power Armour |
| 6-10 points | Medium Power Armour |
| 11-15 points | Heavy Power Armour |
| 16+ points | Not Allowed |
Light Power Armour is usually a powered version of full suit combat armour and is only slightly more bulky than a normal trooper, hence LPA occupies 1 capacity point.
Medium Power Armour takes 1.5 capacity points.
Heavy Power Armour occupies 2 capacity points.
You may notice that most of the power armour descriptions in the TOEs in the Stargrunt rules are right at the top end of the scale here. This is deliberate. Only the NSL suit with MLP is actually over the top limit.
At different levels of technology the size bands may equate to different points ranges.
- Life Support:
- Filtration includes anything from gas masks to full NBC suits, it protects against chemical attacks so long as there is a breathable atmosphere around in the first place. Air Supply is required for operations in hostile atmospheres and underwater. Vaccuum/Pressure proofing is required to operate in the absence of an atmosphere or under great pressure (bottom of the ocean, very dense atmospheres etc.) or in a really hostile atmosphere (corrosive, etc.).
- Medical Functions
- All those wonderful goodies described on page 40 of Stargrunt. If they are absent then PA casualties still roll on the table on page 40 but only after a reorganise action as for non-PA troops. Assume that the squad medic patched up the wounded troop rather than the suit.
- Although they take up no space (though in low tech settings they may take up one space) they would contribute to the financial and technological cost of the suit and this should be born in mind.
- Weapons Mounts
- Required to fit a MLP. Also needed if anything heavier than a Light Support Weapon (SAW up to GMS/P) is to be carried and fired, (for instance the RFAC/1 carried by one of the ESU PA suits).
- Cargo Load
- A single cargo load is equivalent to a single man pack load, that is the size of load that would cause a normal infantryman to count as encumbered. Examples include an unarmoured casualty, a manpack portion of a heavy weapon etc. By combining cargo loads and weapons mounts heavier weapons can be fitted and carried by PA troopers.
- A heavy support weapon (eg an HMG. Rules for HSWs coming sooner or later.) requires a weapons mount and a single cargo load. A Class One Heavy Weapon requires a weapons mount and two cargo loads. A GMS/L requires a weapons mount and one cargo load, however extra cargo loads increase the number of rounds carried. GMS/P requires nothing special, but again cargo loads increase the number of rounds carried.
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