Heavy Gauss Rifles


    The success of low-heat, long-range, large-punch Gauss rifles has led to various experimentation with the basic electromagnetic rifle design.  The Inner Sphere created light Gauss rifles to match the mass and range of more advanced Clan Gauss rifles.  TME Industries incorporated Gauss technology into longer-ranged and more powerful machine guns.  Now TME Industries is experimenting with heavier versions of the Gauss rifle.

    The TME/BTSTS-HGR:3060 (or HGR:3060 for short) is a 33% more massive version of the standard Gauss rifle.  Its longer barrel, extra magnetic propulsors, and larger capacitors increase the range of the standard ferrous-nickel shell by 20% and the higher muzzle velocity accounts for the 20% increase in damage potential.  It does use standard 125-kilogram Gauss rifle shells, making ammunition easy to find.

    The HGR:3061 is as large as the HGR:3060 and also uses a 250-kilogram shell, twice as massive as normal shells.  The range is decreased back to standard Gauss rifle specifications but the damage potential is increased by 33%.   250-kilogram shells are produced only by TME Industries, putting a stranglehold on ammunition supply.

    The RG:3061 Gauss railgun is a monsterous weapon surpassing any other conventional weapon ever built.  It is as massive and nearly as large as a Long Tom artillery weapon and fires a one-ton shell identical to the type used by 35-class naval autocannon.  It has an artillery range of 9 kilometers and a direct-fire range of 1.32 kilometers.  It triples the damage potential of the standard Gauss rifle and has a 45-meter blast radius from sheer kinetic energy.  The recoil is so fierce that the user must stay stationary while firing it, and even then bipedal BattleMechs become very unstable.  Its power requirements are so great that it actually requires a fusion reactor; the capacitors take a full ten seconds to recharge after every firing; and in the time it takes to recharge the fusion reactor suffers a "brownout," decreasing the speed of the firing unit and reducing the effectiveness of its energy weapons.  Despite its drawbacks, the RG:3061 is a brutal weapon that can quickly destroy anything it comes up against.

GAME RULES

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