Extreme and Maximum Range Brackets: All weapons are capable of firing at targets much much further away than the listed rules would permit, which was one of the original common disagreements with the canon Battletech rules. We will be using a simplified version of the rule variant listed in Battletechnology, Issue 0201, pp44-49. Essentially the rules create new "Extreme" and "Maximum" range. Needless to say, all weapons have their damage ratings drastically reduced in effect at these long distances.
"Extreme" Range Bracket: x5 the listed Long range (depending on the weapon class), with a Base To-Hit of 10+. At Extreme Range, all energy and projectile weapons do 1/2 damage, and all missile weapons only hit with 1/2 the listed number from the chart.
"Maximum" Range Bracket: x1.5 the Extreme range for projectile weaponry, out to the horizon or line-of-sight for beam weapons, or identical to Extreme range for missiles, with a Base To-Hit of 12+. At Maximum Range, all beam and projectile weapons do 1/4 damage (rounded down, less than 1pt is ineffective), and LRM and SRM systems only hit with 1/4 the listed number from the chart due to scattering.
Ammo Explosions: In standard Battletech, an ammo explosion instantly ignites the entire ammunition supply in a location, usually resulting in the destruction of the vehicle. Treat all battlemechs and most modern armored fighting vehicles as though equipped with CASE (Cellular Ammunition Storage Equipment) at no additional mass or weight, as is standard for Clan battlemechs. CASE reflects sound engineering rather than some mysterious advanced technology, and has been available on main battle tanks since the late 1970's. Poorly designed, obsolete, or cheaply manufactured vehicles may not have this design feature. An ammunition explosion is still a serious issue, but should not automatically completely annihilate a battlemech.
Infantry
Heavy Body Armor: It is safe to assume that all standard Battletech infantry are equipped at least with a durable helmet and a bullet or shrapnel-resistant vest. It is possible, however, to equip infantry with comprehensive body armor similar to GURPS "Combat Infantry Dress" or Star Wars "Stormtrooper" armor. This armor is generally made of advanced alloys and synthetics, and encases the soldier's entire body. This is generally only done with elite troops, as the armor is quite expensive to produce and requires training to maintain and use properly. Heavy Infantry will routinely be carried by APC’s, then dismount to fight while the APC’s assist with fire support.
Infantry in "Heavy Body Armor" only takes 1/2 damage from all attacks, in addition to the usual modifiers for cover or lack thereof.
Infantry in "Heavy Body Armor" moves more slowly than other units, 1/2MP for foot, -1MP for all other types.
Light Antitank Weapons: On a battlefield with monstrous war-machines like battlemechs in common use, it is absurd to believe that infantry would be sent to battle without being issued some means to fight back. Modern armies routinely equip their infantry with disposable rocket launchers such as the M72 LAW. These are cheap and easily manufactured at a 1960’s level of technology. There is a simple method of modeling this. In most conceivable encounters, the platoon will probably fire all of its rockets at once, hoping to kill or drive off the attacking battlemech before it can slaughter the entire group.
Any properly equipped infantry unit can make a single attack as a SRM Platoon of the appropriate strength using disposable launchers.
Projectile Weaponry
Machine Guns: Representing 12-20mm machine guns and light autocannons, the Machine Gun uses the revised stats seen in the Cannon table below. Other than range revisions, these are mostly unchanged in Crunchy Battletech.
Gauss Cannons: Though not part of the 3025 core setting, the Gauss Rifle is appropriate to this level of technology. It will work as written, being a somewhat more expensive but more effective weapon than the cannons listed below. Beyond that, it requires no special rule modifications or comments.
Armor Piercing: This is the standard depleted uranium or tungsten round, doing normal damage to armored units, but 1/2 damage to infantry.
HEDP: High Explosive Dual Purpose ammunition incorporates both anti-armor and anti-personnel capabilities. It does full damage to infantry, but only 1/2 damage to armored units.
Autocannons have no minimum range, cannot be used for indirect fire, and are not affected by point-defense fire.
Autocannon do 1d6 per "hit" against unarmored infantry, much like giant machine guns.
Autocannon can divide their fire between two targets in adjacent hexes, at +1 penalty for both to-hit rolls. Each target receives an attack equal to 1/2 the total, e.g. a GAT-10 can attack two adjacent mechs with a GAT-5 equivalent attack, at +1 for both.
Missile Weaponry
Short Range Missiles: The SRM is a short-ranged unguided rocket which has more space devoted to warhead than to propellant . It is most often used as a secondary weapon, useful for laying down smoke, special fragmenting rounds, or incendiaries. At the GM’s discretion, advanced versions are available which incorporate simple laser-designation guidance into the rockets, giving a +2 on the Missile Hits Table (like the NARC Beacon in the standard game).
The Crunchy rules create a different balance between weapon systems than standard Battletech has, so a few other things need to be tweaked. SRM's in particular are extremely lacking in range and impact compared to other major weapons. To give them a place in the Crunchy rules, the SRM range has been increased by 25%, but it retains other stats and rules of standard Battletech.
The following warheads are available for use with SRM's:
HEDP: "High Explosive Dual Purpose" is the standard SRM round, which does 2pts per hit.
Incendiary: Treat this as a standard "Inferno" round, as described in Battletech rules.
CHEM/Smoke: Creates a thick cloud of smoke in a hex, +1 BTN penalty per pair of SRM's, +3 BTN per hex maximum penalty
Antipersonnel: 1d6 damage per SRM that hits infantry units, only 1pt to armored vehicles.
Long Range Missiles: Each LRM is a high velocity unguided rocket with a relatively small warhead, but with a long effective range. This makes them useful for long-range area bombardment, as well as being effective against armored targets. In a campaign, these have the benefit of being cheap to manufacture and easily transported in bulk. At the GM’s discretion, advanced versions are available which incorporate simple laser-designation guidance into the rockets, giving a +2 on the Missile Hits Table (like the NARC Beacon in the standard game). Advanced rounds such as “Swarm LRM’s” and “Thunder LRM’s” may also be available at GM’s discretion.
The Crunchy rules create a different balance between weapon systems than standard Battletech has, but the LRM remains an effective weapon system with little modification besides the extra range bracket. The basic LRM round is assumed to be an APEX (Armor Piercing Explosive) round, capable of anti-armor or anti-personnel attack.
The weapon stats have been normalized on the LRM-5 through LRM-20 for ease of conversion, with roughly one Guided Missile per former LRM-5. Guided Missiles do all damage to one location per missile, do not scatter like LRM’s and SRM’s, and can be shot down more easily by point defense systems. In the case of multiple tube launchers, a separate target can be engaged with each missile at once, at a cumulative +1 penalty for each target after the first (a multi barrel launcher could engage 1 target at no penalty, 2 targets at +1 each, 3 targets at +2, or 4 at +3 total) due to the difficulty of aiming and acquiring multiple targets with one fire-control package.
Guided missiles can be fired in salvos of as few as desired, regardless of how many barrels there are in a launcher. The player should keep track of the number of missiles expended, rather than "salvos". "Ammo" refers to the number of individual missiles per ton, rather than salvos per ton as is the case with LRM's. It should be noted that Guided Missiles are easily countered by point defense systems and ECM, so they are not as common as they might otherwise be.
Energy Weaponry
The primary advantage to a typical energy weapon is accuracy, rather than striking power. The Battletech rules listed for lasers and PPC's are adequate, but the rules need to reflect the fact that beams travel at the speed of light in a straight line. This gives them a battlefield niche... no beam weapons strike as hard as the large-bore cannon do, but they strike true. To that end, apply the following modifications to the existing game rules.
ER and Pulse Lasers: Disregard these weapon systems for the Crunchy Battletech game.
Accuracy at Normal Ranges: Energy weapons suffer only 1/2 the listed penalties for target and attacker movement, due to superior accuracy and ease of aiming. Total them up and divide by two, rounded up.
Extreme and Maximum Ranges: As noted above, the Maximum range of beam weapons extends out to the horizon, or at least to Line-of-Sight. This makes them capable of inflicting damage upon a target many kilometers away, and may change the complexion of a battle. Unfortunately, at these extended ranges beam weapons suffer from "attenuation". In inclement weather, beam weapons suffer an additional +1 to +4 penalty to hit, as the beam is scattered and dissipated.
Other Equipment
Battlefield Systems: In the Crunchy Rules 3025, the following systems are available for use by the militaries of the Inner Sphere, though none of them will be common. Some hardware may have slightly different rules for use in the "Crunchy Rules". If equipment is not listed below, it is not available for use, or is superseded by something above.
Anti-Missile System: Similar to the Phalanx/CIWS of the 20th Century, this is a dedicated point defense machine laser, with radar guidance and a much higher rate-of-fire than the “Small Laser”. Each turn, the AMS can fire on one volley of any size or number of missiles, destroying 2d6 LRM, SRM, or GM per volley. The Anti-Missile System does 1d6 damage against infantry if used in the antipersonnel roll, but does no damage to armored vehicles. Please note that on any battlefield where Guided Missiles are in use, most heavy and assault mecha will have an AMS installed.
Antipersonnel Pods: No changes are needed.
Arrow IV Missiles: Any laser can be used to designate for the homing version.
Beagle Active Probe: This system is extremely short ranged by modern standards, and should probably extend its effects out to 10 hexes instead of the listed 4 hex range. It detects hidden infantry on 8+, not automatically.
C3 Computer: No changes are needed.
Guardian ECM: This is fine as written, though it is worth noting that the Guardian ECM system will effectively spoof Guided Missiles, adding an additional +4 to hit any defended target within the 6 hex radius.
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