AC20 vs. TB

[Lyhrrus]

This is continuing from the old forum...

Anyway, twin TBs on anything less than a heavy will have heat problems, as well as less than average armor and worse electronics. An AC20 does alright on a light titan, though it leaves one torso lightly armored. I'd pit my Gnarled Stump against the Imp any time. (see previous post for GS specs) So I'd still say that if you increase the heat to 40 then the AC20 would be significantly better than the TB and the tweaking spiral would begin anew.

[LonChaneyJr]

I'm new at this game so could someone enlighten as to what the range modifiers are?

On the surface it would seem the AC20 would have an advantage over the Tesla with its longer range.
Assuming the AC20 armed titan either stands its ground or backpedals shouldn't it be able to get several shots in before the TB's are even in range?

[Lyhrrus]

AC20 range 8
TB range 5

Yes they will get in a few extra shots, but when up close, TBs deal damage out a lot more quickly. AC20s also take up more slots for ammo and such, leaving less room for armor.

[LonChaneyJr]

Hmm I've got 1.4b and I show the AC20 with a range of 9 and recycle of 22sec. So going with my previous scenario that gives you 4 hexes Mr. TB has to travel, and if you backpedal 5 or 6 hexes. So in that amount time you should be able fire 2 or 3 shots per gun if you can handle the heat.

And then again once you've got your active scan and see that your opponent is loaded with TB's you could try to stay outside of the 5 hex range and pound at them with your cannons. Assuming the terrain(or your jumpjets) would allow it I think your best bet would be to torso twist and try to stay at angle where you can move in or move away at will.

[rosary]

At the moment there are some advantages to having the ac20 over the tesla. But here is something you should consider. Lets say you start a team. You give your rookie energy weapon skills and develop that until it gets in to the high 80's while your cannon skill is still around 25%. Now which weapon is the weapon of choice for your pilot? The tesla of course.
Look at it this way. Energy vs cannon skills
1- Energy weapons are better weapons for rookies.
2- Energy weapons don't run out of ammo so your rookie pilot can fire away without worring about missing. This lets them gain more experience early on when its extremely important.
3- no dud lasers ( if you've used the ac20 enough then you know about dud ammo)
4- energy weapons don't cause skill checks when your heat goes into the critical zone. cannon's do.

So when this Pilot who has a very high energy weapon skill decides on a really heavy hitting powerhouse weapon he gets to choose the Neutron blaster, The Black ray gun, The Cold Light gun, all lasers (don't discount the small laser it is very cool), all while never worrying about ammo explosions.

Shields do reduce the effectivness of lasers so they aren't perfect just a choice.

Now look at the rookie who chooses cannon skills.

1) Because of his initial poor rating on his weapon he tends to run out of ammo in his first few fights. that is never good. so he/she has to save on ammo or increase his close combat skills but that is another item for another time.
2) when the cannon pilot finally gets a heavy he gets to choose from ac20 and well thats it. He only gets an ac20. the ac20 is great and worth it but its harder to achieve these skills.

So in summary when you're starting your energy pilot out you get a better weapons choice early on and more weapons choices later while the cannon pilot has limited choices and a harder time early on but gets the big prize at the end but less choices. The only exotic cannon weapon is the Meson and its a gamble at best. The ac20. I usually choose cannon skills for the machine gun as it is deadly at close range.

[PrinceCorrin]

The TB is better for CC titans, because there is less danger of explosions, but I don't like more than one on my titan. AC20s seem much better when there are more.

[jmikkone]

Ah, the dear old warhorse again..

Teslas are great, no denying that, but you'd be foolhardy to depend on them only. Any Titan with a halfway decent shield will make you angry. AC's in general don't have this problem. They're very dependable in any situation you'll come across. Since you don't know the terrain or your opponents beforehand, IMHO it's better to be safe than sorry.

Now, considering these undersized one-trick ponys with that load up just a couple huge weapons and pretty much nothing else. To effectively wield an AC20, you'll have to have a total of at least EIGHT slots in a given body part. Five for the weapon, at least one for the ammo, and unless you're lacking common sense altogether, at least two slot's worth of dullaroy armor.

Only one light chassis has 8 slots in a given body part, and that's the CT, one of the very first places that will be occupied by the heat reg. No good.

Tesla only requires SIX free slots. I don't think twin teslas in a light are assumed to be able to fire at will, so engine size will remain at or under four anyway. Alone, these die like flies, but accompanied by an Ancient Mariner or such.. Ouch. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

On an assault Titan, I'd vote for AC20 over Tesla anytime. Tesla creates way too much heat and requires a humongous engine to be of any real use. If experienced with energy weapons, then it's OK to use teslas.

[Lyhrrus]

Actually, you can fudge a light titan with AC20s with only seven slots. 5+1 for AC20 and 10 shots, and 1 for titanium armor. <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> Granted, it'll only give you about 19 armor in that one part, but then again, you'll take them out long before you need that armor right? <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

[Lyhrrus]

Here's an AC20 light titan design based on the Imp. I'd actually prefer this to the Imp as it has less heat problems, greater range, flares, a much better BC and marginally better armor.

Titan Name: Arquebus (Light Short Range Titan)
Chassis: Morola L2
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Weight: 70.0t (70t maximum) Height : 9 [meter]
Bmt : 21 (57 kph) Reduce Heat: -2.1C/sec.
No Jump-Ports Cost : 148891 ($)


Equipment:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Component/Type/Location

Engine :Morola M1 [Engine 1] [LowT]
Heatreg.:Teflin [Heat 3]
Flare :FL Large [Flare2] [Head]
LifeSup.:Livotto [Life 1] [Head]
Scanner :CyberSys S [Scan 1] [CT ]
Computer:Mark BC-X [Comp. 6] [CBT ]


Weapons:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Location/Weapon/Ammunition/SL

[RT ] AUTO CANNON 20 (010) [1]
[LT ] AUTO CANNON 20 (010) [1]
[RA ] S.R.M. 4 RACK (024) [1]
[LA ] S.R.M. 4 RACK (024) [1]


Armor:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Loc/Internal/Armor/Points/mm

[Head] (11) Dullaroy 017 [025mm]
[RT ] (19) Titanium 019 [038mm]
[CT ] (19) Vicenium 022 [037mm]
[CBT ] (13) Vicenium 016 [027mm]
[LT ] (19) Titanium 019 [038mm]
[RA ] (17) Vicenium 021 [035mm]
[LA ] (17) Vicenium 021 [035mm]
[LowT] (13) Vicenium 022 [037mm]
[RL ] (15) Vicenium 028 [047mm]
[LL ] (15) Vicenium 028 [047mm]

Armorindex: 5.30 [Total APts/T]
Internal: 158 [APts]
External: 213 [APts] Max:[065mm]
Total Armor: 371 [APts]


JOCK requirements:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Piloting: skill on Light Titan
Weapons : N.G.M Cannon
Warfare : Defensives Scanner
Skills : Medical Ind.Fire

[Lyhrrus]

Oh yeah, one more thing, in my previous design, you can swap out the scanner and flares for a Jump Port 1. No way can you fit that on the Imp, unless you drop to scan 1 and BC 1. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">