QUOTE (Machiavelli @ Nov 23 2011, 09:31 AM)

I say, that a MG is bigger than an assault rifle, but not THAT much bigger. Most people doesnīt even know the exact difference. If you run around with an Assault Rifle or with an MG makes no difference for citizens or security forces. Both are big, both are illegal, both are military weapons.
I agree that the average citizen isn't going to make a distinction: they're going to hear shots, or see big ugly death staring them in the face, and they're going to run screaming or freeze or call the cops or whatever: it doesn't matter if it's an SMG or an HMG, they're going to have approximately the same response, because they're not familiar with the individual weapons [and because they spell equal amounts of death for the average citizen, anyway].
The response of a security force, in my game, would depend on the level of security force. An arcology lobby rent-a-cop might not respond any differently than a civilian,* but a member of a high-threat response team is going to treat a situation with LMGs very differently than one with assault rifles. Assault rifles are really just hunting rifles with bigger clips and automatic fire, after all: if I wanted an "assault rifle," I could have one with $50 and a bread tie. But if I'm carrying - and using - a light machine gun, that HTR commander is going to know that I have access to military weaponry, highly restricted and dangerous material that can do serious life and property damage, all out of proportion with what an assault rifle can do.
QUOTE (Machiavelli @ Nov 23 2011, 09:31 AM)

Security forced donīt react differently just because you "only" carry an assault rifle instead of an MG. There is no "low-risk" SWAT for gangsters with Assault rifles and a "military armor" SWAT for the goon with the MG.
Absolutely, but if were a SWAT commander, my actions would be much more swift, and much more decisive, if the shadowrunning team had military weaponry. [I would also be more likely to bring my own military weaponry.] Because the risk to civilians and property is so much higher, I would be justified in taking more risky actions myself.
It's like the calculation a police officer makes when you're speeding: if he has to turn around in heavy traffic and pull you over on a street with no shoulder, and you're only going a little over the speed limit, he won't pull you over, because the danger he would present in pulling you over is greater than the danger you represent speeding. But if you're going twice the speed limit and driving erratically, the danger you present is greater, so he can and should take more risks.
The SWAT team is also going to bring radically different equipment, depending on what the opposition is fielding. I'm not going to break out my chopper and my riot control vehicle for three guys with M-16s, but if you've got military weaponry, I'm going to need to field a military response. That means the manpower and material required to counteract what you've brought.
If your shadowrunning team shows up with a mortar and a heavy machine gun and anti-tank weapons, the police response is going to be tactically very different, and strategically very different, than if you were the same guys with AK-47s. The civilians can't tell the difference, and the bullets the cops will shoot at you can't tell the difference, but the cops themselves sure can.
*Although he might be a veteran, and know
exactly what he's dealing with. I like to keep players guessing.