the shape of things to come

STEP 4: ADD ARMOR
Even though Support Vehicles are not built for the rigors of
combat, most use some kind of armor to protect their internal
structures and critical components against the elements, accidents
and other hazards of wear and tear. Support Vehicle armor
varies wildly with the vehicle’s tech base, weight and the relative
strength of the armor chosen (defined as the armor’s Barrier
Armor Rating, or BAR).
The “armor” most Support Vehicles carry is usually nothing of
the sort, and can range from thick fabrics, wood and sheet metal
to resin polymers and industrial alloys. The Support Vehicle’s BAR
value refl ects this variance, and is used to determine whether or
not heavy weapons fi re penetrates the vehicle’s protection regardless
of how many points remain in the location. In Total Warfare
standard rules game play, if a unit has a BAR of less than 10, any
damage sustained in a single hit that exceeds the unit’s BAR may
infl ict such a penetrating Critical Hit (see Damage, p. 206, Total
Warfare), even if armor points remain in the stricken location.
The maximum amount of armor points a Support Vehicle may
mount is based on its tonnage and type. This value applies to Clan
and Inner Sphere Support Vehicles, regardless of the Tech Rating
used. The value of this maximum is shown in the Support Vehicle
Armor Table below. Regardless of the BAR or Tech Rating appli-
SUPPORT VEHICLE ARMOR TABLE
Vehicle Type Total Max Armor Factor*
Airship, Naval, WiGE 4 + (0.334 per ton)
Fixed Wing, Hover, VTOL 4 + (1 per ton)**
Tracked, Wheeled 4 + (2 per ton)
*Round down to nearest whole number.
**VTOLs: The Rotor location always has a maximum armor allowance of 2 points,
regardless of size.
Barrier
Armor
Rating (BAR)
Weight (in kg) per Armor Point (by Tech Rating)
A B C D E F
2 40 25 16 13 12 11
3 60 38 24 19 17 16
4 80 50 32 26 23 21
5 100* 63 40 32 28 26
6 130* 75* 48 38 34 32
7 180* 88* 56* 45 40 37
8 230* 120* 64* 51* 45 42
9 NA 180* 100* 57* 51* 47
10 NA 250* 150* 63* 56* 52*
* The Armored chassis modifi cation is required to install this armor on a chassis of this Tech Rating.
cable to the armor used, it may not exceed this maximum point
value. Remember, however, that this value refl ects the vehicle’s
maximum total armor capacity; the number of points per location
is left up to the designer. Only VTOL rotors have an upper limit:
a maximum armor allowance of 2 points at any weight. Support
Vehicles designed with the Armored, Amphibious, Environmental
Sealing or Submersible chassis modifi cations have a minimum
armor requirement of 1 point per location.
Support Vehicle armor may be mounted in kilogram lots for
Small vehicles, but units weighing 5 tons or more must mount any
armor in full- or half-ton lots. The number of points per ton may
be derived from the Support Vehicle Armor Table below; divide
1,000 by the number of kilograms per point of desired armor type,
and round the result down to the nearest whole number.
Conversely, if a specifi c number of armor points is sought—up
to the Support Vehicle’s computed Maximum Armor Factor—and
the weight is unknown, the designer can fi nd this weight (in kilograms)
by multiplying the armor weight per point by the number
of points desired. For Small Support Vehicles, this result requires
no rounding. Support Vehicles weighing 5 tons and over, however,
must round up to the nearest half-ton. For example, if a designer
decides to mount 92 points of BAR 6, Tech Rating D armor on a
Medium Support Vehicle, it will cost 3.5 tons of armor to accomplish
that (92 points x 38 kg per point = 3,496 kg = 3.496 tons,
which rounds up to the nearest half at 3.5). Note, however, that
sometimes a desired number of points—such as many Maximum
Armor Factors—may force the designer to “waste” weight on
points that cannot be mounted.
Use the Armor Diagram on the Support Vehicle’s record sheet to
indicate the number of armor points protecting each part of the
unit’s body by marking out any excess armor circles in the same
way as for the internal structure. Armor circles for a given location
are located in the appropriate unshaded parts of the diagram.
Designers may not mix armor types on a given Support Vehicle,
and Support Vehicles may only use armor types listed in the Support
Vehicle Armor Table.
Tech Rating: The Tech Rating of the armor chosen for a Support
Vehicle may not exceed that of its chassis. Also, armor at some
BAR levels may not be available to a Support Vehicle unless it
possesses the Armored chassis modifi cation. (An entry of NA on
the Support Vehicle Armor Table means that armor of a given BAR
does not exist for Support Vehicles at that Tech Rating.)
Space: Under these rules, no armor type available to Support
Vehicles reduces their equipment slot space.
Support OmniVehicles: The type of armor, its weight, number
of points and their allocation must be established when designing
the base configuration of a Support OmniVehicle. These
values may not be altered in the completed Primary or Alternate
confi gurations of that OmniVehicle.
Simon decides his Simca ambulance does
not require any armor, believing that any
weight distributed to such reinforcements
will detract from more important life-saving
equipment and work space. Counting on
the kindness of others not to shoot at unarmored
rescue vehicles, he moves on to the next step.
Because his VTOL is planned as a medivac
craft that might venture close to a
war zone, Todd invested in the Armored