| Electric Armor |
| Field Manual: Homebrew |
| Introduction |
| Electric Armor is a protective devise that runs a low current over the unit's armor which causes shaped charge weapons (primarily missiles in Battletech) to explode before hey would reach their most destructive impact point. This in combination with normal armor plating provides excellent protection for the weight to many units. |
| By: Mike Miller |
| Lore |
| Simply put, for Battletech, Electric Armor halves the damage (round up damage from each group of missiles) delivered by missile attacks (SRMs, MRMs, LRMs, RLs, Thunderbolts), not counting Infernos. Electric Armor is thus more limited than "Blazer" armor as it does not apply to ACs, Gauss Rifles, Artillery, and other ballistic attacks. Electric armor offers the protection of standard armor (16 points/ton) against most attacks. For mechs, it requires the addition of 1 crit power supplies in each location except the head (thus using 7 crits total). If damaged by a critical hit, a power supply will explode (like a Gauss Rifle capacitor) for 5 points of damage (CASE protects normally). For vehicles, 1 slot is lost off the side locations and ICE-powered vehicles must mount power amplifiers equal to 1/10th the tonnage of their armor. Development of this low-tech solution to missiles is blamed on the cash- and technology-strapped but innovative engineers of the Trinity Alliance. An investigation is underway to explain how the Marian Hegemony fielded electric armor on refitted Gladius tanks before the Trinity Alliance completed field testing of the new armor. |
| Navigation |
| Rules |
| Electric Armor Weight: 16 pts/ton Criticals: 7 (1 in each location except the head) Cost: 15,000 cbills/ton Notes: Electric Armor in Battletech is an armor type, hence unless playing with "patchwork armor" rules (Maxtech pg. 81), it is incompatiable with other types of Armor. When used with the "patchwork armor" rules Electric Armor requires 1 critical in any location mounting it (including the head). When any Electric Armor critical is hit it deals 5 damage to that location as per an ammunition explosion (these can't be caused by heat though), and may be protected by CASE. If a location mounting Electric Armor has it's critical (in that location) destroyed the Electric Armor no longer offers any benefits to resisting missile damage in that location. Electric Armor's advantage is that it reduces the damage each group of missiles deals by 1/2 (round down). Example: Mike's mech mounting Electric Armor is hit by a LRM-15. The missile roll shows that 9 missiles hit. This damage is dealt in two groups, 1 group of 5, and 1 group of 4. Due to Mike's Electric Armor though the mech would take 1 group of 3 damage (5-2=3), and 1 group of 2 damage (4-2=2). |