nathanross
Apr 8 2008, 06:47 PM
QUOTE (Larme @ Apr 8 2008, 08:28 AM)
You could improve ADPS, and that would make it really helpful for weak guns like pistols, which can't use APDS to all that much effect. But you'd have the unintended consequence of making it horrible, uber instant death for weapons with high AP already. Sniper rifles with APDS have -7 AP, which is pretty nuts. If you improve APDS, it will be more than nuts. And your players will all start using APDS sniper rifles, and it will break your game
I have kind of been forgetting that APDS stacks with the Gun's base -AP.
IC-Pick
Apr 8 2008, 06:49 PM
Discarding Sabots work well in 50 cal muzzleloaders, but that is a much different animal than handgun. Handguns were made so that you didnt have to carry a rifle all of the time in a low threat area, and as a backup to the rifle. They just dont have the power as a primary. I always thought that APDS should remove the armor as it does, but also drop the power by a couple.
-anecdotal and scientific info to back up my point, skip if you find it boring-
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If you look at the current trend in PDW's the rounds are geting much narrower. Look at the p90. That stock round has great armor penetration. One shot might hurt you, but 20 will turn you into a seive. When I was in armored cars we studied various rounds, and knew how they would penetrate standard bullet resistant glass at the time. There was a cheap little pistol, the tokarev, which used a 7.62X28 I believe. That was basically a short version of the round that the AK47 uses (7.62x39) or the similar .308 (used in the m60 and many other rifles) It had GREAT penetration but lacked alot of the power, as it would just punch right through you and not impart its kinetic energy to you (unlike the AK or the .308) That is really the name of the game. That is why hollowpoints work so well. They mushroom (widen at the front) and are able to transfer the energy to you and causing hyrostatic shock in your cavities and bloodstream. Armor works on the same principal by dispersing the kinetic energy over as wide an area is it can. Armor piercing has to be (usually) dense/thin enough to go through the armor without losing enough kinetic energy to damage you. Rifle rounds have alot more energy and can stand to lose alot more of that energy before becoming less lethal.
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It seems that with that annoying thing called physics, you can usually have one or the other, unless you add in some sort of explosive, which changes the game a little.
As a side, but still on topic note: You should see what a hollowpoint shotgun slug does to lexan(bullet resistant plastic used in windows)... it creates permanent concentric ripples while not penetrating at all. It looks cool, though. Take away the armor and its lights out.
Also the m1 carbine's .30 cal is technically classified as a pistol round. I know a few people that have m1 carbines chopped down to make pistol type weapons (they are still clip-fed in front of the grip and probably a foot long) and they fire very well. The rounds are basically 9MM long's and the standard ball ammo penetrates well.