So I am looking at this AR and I have to say, it is one sweet looking weapon. But from the description I get the feeling it is already maxed out on accessories. It has a for-grip, an under barrel grenade launcher and built in RC. Can a gas vent be added? Or a barrel weight, do you get RC bonus from the for grip on top of whats built in or is that included in the built in RC. Could I get some help clarifying this, thanks.

shazam.

Thanks MFB, Shazam it was!

That picture isn't of the ares alpha.

Read the description. There is nothing about a foregrip. The 2 RC is built into the frame itself. The barrel and top mount are still free, but the under barrel mount is taken up by the grenade launcher.

it's possible shadow's got Arsenal 2060. the germans, lucky bastards, get pics of every weapon in the book.

CC pg 22 top left. That is the picture of the Ares Alpha I think. Notice the underbarrel mini grenade launcher. The "special chamber design" is the magazine feed behind the grip. This is my opinion though, since the only other weapon that comes with a intergal grenade launcher is the M-22 and tha look like a M-16.

according to Arsenal 2060, the pic in CC is of the FN-HAR. the magazine feed behind the grip is a bullpup design; the Alpha is also a bullpup, but it looks... um, kinda like an elongated P-90.

incidentally, has anyone ever translated the shadowtalk in Arsenal into english? the thought of reading makes me salivate, but the only german word i know is spurgenzfrettchelhausengertzig.

Well, that beats Swartzwalderkirschtorte doesn't it?

Anyhoo, back to the Combat Gun. Yup the piccie is in Fields of Fire for those of you old timers out there. The Recoil comp 2 is integral to the design of the weapon - something to do with the actual placement of the firing camber and overall mass distribution by my assumption. This of course doesn't use up any of the available mounting spaces, but then the Grenade Launcher does occupy the Under mount.

So, whack on a Gas-Vent 4 to the Barrel and some Shock Pads to the Stock to give you an overall Recoil compensation of 7. If you've got a good Strength attribute thats an extra 1 point and factoring in the TN reduction for a Smartlink II you can happily mow out a ten round burst at base range TNs.

If you're really serious about the weapon then stick in a rangefinder option to your Smartlink II and the corresponding internal accessory into the Combat Gun's grenade launcher. Make sure you buy the Ares air-timed mini-grenades for the airburst detonation too. IPE offensive ones too. Then whack on an Ultrasound scope to the Top mount with a goggle/datajack relay to make sure you can see those targets who are wise enough to make themselves invisible when they see what you're sporting. (After all you'e already got thermo or lowlight vision mods right?)

OK then, there you have a grade A Bang-Bang Term. Of course its highly illegal, but then you're military or a merc right and have all that nice legal documantation to prove it? As for those who then say - "But its too bulky to be concealed and wouldn't a Vision Mag scope be better for the long range shots?" Well, then buy the right weapon for the job, is my reply. This is a gun designed for a full-on firefight role. It isn't subtle and its not for a nice quiet long-range sniping shot. Its meant to spit out high velocity armour-piercing death with added collateral damage with a loud BOOM! You want concealable and subtle stick with pistols Terms - they're good for back up...

bah. i got 10 points of RC with a modded M-22, with the help of a cyberarm gyromount.

The nicest thing about the Ares is that you don't have to do much to have a great gun out of the box. Slap on a shock pad (available from the Stuffer Shack with adhesive backing) and you've got a relatively non-standout weapon that you can ditch if you have to. No custom work or anything like that that could be traced back to you any better than another weapon. As a sammie, buy a case for each appartment and ditch them once they're really illegal (ie, have killed people).

I'd also point out that the Ares Alpha has a base cost of 2k with a street index of 4.

That's enough to make it pretty distinctive by itself.

-Siege

Distinctive, but not as distinctive as, say, a gun with ten custom modifications (which can include forensic clues which can come back on you). The guns aren't inherently more distinctive than most others used by professionals, though they do rule out "street thugs" and the like. But, then again, if your run needs assault rifles, I think it's pretty well going to be assumed that the people who pulled it off were professionals and not street thugs.

That might be an interesting spin on this thread:

How many tweaks do you mount on your weapon?

I usually went with the Colt M22, upgrading the gas vent to a 2 or maybe 3 and an external smartgun adapter. Occasionally a set of shockpads, if I was feeling posh.

-Siege

Not bad, Siege. I tote an M-23 with a .300 Whisper upper receiver, smartlinked, and with an AimPoint red-dot sight as a backup. It also sports a smartlink activated underbarrel flashpak. No need for highend recoil comp...I normally fire SS or 3-round bursts.

Personally, I prefer tactical lights/flashpaks as accessories to my firearms. Especially if you've cut the power/lights and the guards are walking around with NVDs.

Ahem. I was usually fire support, so I had to allow for dealing with injuries while still being able to maintain accurate fire, hence the higher-end gas vents.

I'll second the side-mount tactical light, although I hadn't considered the benefits of a flash pack. Hmmm...

What's the most unique modification you've ever made to your weapon?

One guy had a modular undercarriage so he could swap out mission specific gear.

-Siege

Most Unique mod I've done to my guns was with a pair of Ares Protectors modded with smart link, no trigger, and then modded again with a radio receiver.

Set up was real sweet and simple: I use my radio headware running a program from my headware memory to send a signal to get the guns to fire. Useful for ambushes, distractions, faked assassination attempts, things like that.

Beyond flashpaking my firearms, I never did anything really off the wall with them. However, the group I GM for does have a mage with unique taste when it comes to firearms. When the rest of the team is toting Assault Rifles, he packs a Marlin 1895 Cowboy, chamberd in .45-70 Govt. And don't ask about the 5-gallon hat...

The one and only decent pic of the AACG in teh CC (at least the one I have here in good ol' Brit-land) is on p20. The woman with the Big_Bad_Beeste (hehe) behind her...

I imagine, looking at the original 2nd ed. pic, that it's a little out of scale, since it looks more like a carbine size... artistic liscence though.

That's the design...