Armor

              Armor is a very important part of a soldier’s armament and can be the difference between life and death. As a base commander, players purchase Armor and allocate it to troops in between campaigns.

              When a player takes damage due to weapons fire, they first consult their armor and its resistance values. Some types of armor protect versus different types of damage better than others. In addition, armor degrades 1 point for every point of damage absorbed by the resistance values.

Example: Walter’s Scout is wearing Medium Scout Armor with energy damage resistance of 50%. It also has 40 absorption points. He is struck by a Correndu-o’s Plasma Rifle, which does 18 points of energy damage. With his armor’s energy resistance, Walter’s Scout only takes 9 points of damage to his Health, while his armor absorbs the rest of the damage, leaving its remaining absorption points at 31.

Light Scout Armor: Light Scout Armor offers little protection, but weighs very little as well. It covers the torso, arms, and head. It is coated with an ablative material to dissipate damage from incendiary and energy sources. The armor also carries heat baffles in the torso, helping mask a scout’s heat signature. Weight: 1 Cost: $15,000

Medium Scout Armor: Medium Scout Armor offers marked improvement in protection over Light Scout Armor and weighs only a fraction more. It covers the legs as well as the torso, arms, and head. In addition to this, it also has the same ablative coating to protect against incendiary and energy attacks. It comes with the standard heat baffles in the chest and also has 3 detachable first-aid patches used to stabilize a scout’s wounds. Weight: 2.5 Cost: $30,000

Light Armor: Light Armor affords slightly more protection than the basic Scout armors, with none of the movement penalties of the heavier armors. It offers moderate protection against all types of damage. Weight: 2 Cost: $10,000

Medium Armor: Medium Armor affords more protection than Light Armor, but is somewhat more bulky and incurs a -2 movement penalty on the wearer. Weight: 5 Cost: $35,000

Heavy Armor: Heavy Armor is the strongest of the armors initially available, but comes at a hefty price - both monetary and mobility. Wearing this armor incurs a -5 movement penalty on the wearer as well as preventing Sprinting, and -10 Reflexes as well. However, the protection provided by this armor is often worth it. Weight: 8 Cost: $75,000

A.S.P. Scout Armor : This Scout Armor is unusual in the amount of ablative coating it carries. Since most enemies that scouts face will employ plasma and laser weaponry, it was wise to mount this type of defense. Unfortunately, scientists from our Earth can’t quite duplicate its effectiveness. The most interesting thing about the armor is not its ablative properties, however. The armor contains a small amount of manite used as a power source to produce a sort of “light diffusion” throughout the ablative layer. It appears that the sheer amount of ablative coating allows for this, but we can’t be sure. We do know that the length of time that this effect can be used is severely limited, but remains very useful. Weight: 2 Cost: $100,000 **Special** : When activated, the light diffusion ability will add +20 to a player’s Stealth rating, but it heats the suit rapidly making it more visible to thermal sensors and creatures that can “see” heat. The power source is decidedly finite, and does not last long. 3 turns is all it can be used continuously, after which an automatic cut-off kicks in and turns it off, to save the filaments. Once it has been used, the manite source must be replaced, costing $5,000. This is not something that can be done in the field, and is well beyond the means of mere soldiers.

A.S.P. Medium Armor : This armor was designed with the needs of infantry in mind, it seems. The helmet’s visor contains an integrated targeting reticle and rangefinder, with 10x optical zoom capabilities. This system has been widely lauded by our troops in the field, and has proved its worth. Unfortunately, this also raises the cost of this armor, which is always in short supply. With better-than-average ballistic and energy protection, this armor is well worth the cost if the soldier in it knows what he is doing. Added protection equals added weight in this instance, and usually only goes to soldiers that are reasonably strong and able. The added bulk reduces the armor’s wearer’s Movement by 3. Weight: 8 Cost: $150,000 **Special** : The integral targeting system in the helmet gives the wearer +10 to their weapon’s base-to-hit. For instance, if a soldier has a firing accuracy of 50 with Rifles, and his rifle has an initial accuracy of 100, then the final score with this addition would be 60. [(100 * 0.5) +10]

A.S.P. Heavy Armor : Our support troopers have responded with glee to this armor. Although it drastically impedes their already-poor movement capabilities, it also enhances their fighting ability. The wearer is near-impervious to all manners of attack save psionic and gas, and the gyro-chest mount can help reduce the recoil of most heavy weapons. This is quite possibly one of the most effective abilities of the A.S.P. organization’s contributions to our war effort, as it allows our soldiers firepower previously unheard of! Unfortunately, the cost and bulkiness does hamper its effectiveness somewhat. Soldiers wearing this armor must reduce their movement speeds by 9, making walking as tiring as running in some cases. Sprinting is of course impossible whilst wearing this armor. Weight:12 Cost: $300,000 **Special** : When a heavy weapon that is not fired from the shoulder (such as the Immolator) is hooked into the gyro-chest mount of this armor, the armor will absorb 4 points of recoil every turn with no ill effects on the wearer’s accuracy. In addition, this armor also mounts a similar firing system as the A.S.P. Medium armor, though it is only half as effective.

Terrain Hopper Powered Armor : This armor is actually more of an exoskeleton, extremely powerful and effective. Its low damage resistance and absorption is due more to the fact that it is intended more as an effective method of transportation for a small well-equipped squad rather than as an armor for a unit expected to engage in several firefights. This armor requires the rare ore manite to power itself, though its glider-wings are equipped with solar cells capable of recharging small amounts of energy over time. The powered nature of this armor allows soldiers to carry heavier equipment than they might normally be able to use, as well as allow them the ability to leap long distances and glide with the glider wings extended. The suit consists of a light metal form-fitting frame with a small power source located on the small of the back. A myomer-muscle body suit worn by the soldier gives commands to the armor in regards to movement while enhancing the soldier’s strength. Special metal boots arranged in an X-pattern help with the balance and recovery of the wearer. The frame has a tall metal backpack that holds up to 45 lbs of equipment or ammo in an armored compartment as well as the wings which extend behind the soldier’s head when in use, level with the soldier’s shoulders. Shoulder-mounted weapons can not be used with this exoskeleton. With wings extended, a soldier can leap/glide 50 feet per turn at a cost of 10 action points. Without the wings extended, that number is reduced to 35. Without the wings extended, a soldier can run approximately twice as fast, though walking speed is not increased and sprinting is impossible. In a turn in which a soldier has leapt, firing is impossible due to the motions of exoskeleton. Weight: 10 (negated while wearing the armor) Cost: $350,000