Weapon Limitations

These rules govern the quantity and quality of firepower available to the numerous mecha, small craft, starships, vehicles, and so forth within the Star Army setting.

Usually, for infantrymen and power armor, this is self-explanatory… or at least easily ruled on. No one expects an infantryman or a power armor to dual-wield bazookas while carrying four spares on their back. For larger platforms such as mecha and starships, however, it becomes more nebulous. The rule we offer is: a maximum of 8 On-Tier Weapons (OTWs) and a max of 2 Tier-Equivalent Weapon Groups (TEWGs).

• Getting a higher-tier weapon costs 2 weapons of the tier below.

• Getting a lower-tier weapon costs 1/2 of a weapon from the tier above.

• OTWs can be converted normally into lower-tier weapons and higher-tier weapons.

• TEWGs can only be converted into lower-tier weapons and can only contain weapons below the tier of the weapon's host platform - more on this in the section below.

A Tier-Equivalent Weapon Group (TEWG) is a group of lower-tier weapons whose combined “purpose” (read: damage output) is equal to their host platform's tier. Consider, for instance, a Tier 10 (Light Starship) vessel like the Yui 7-class Scout. The following are just a handful of the combinations that would count as a single TEWG for the Yui 7:

• 2 Tier 9 (Heavy Anti-Mecha) Type 31 Secondary Anti-Starship Turrets
• 1 Tier 9 (Heavy Anti-Mecha) Type 31 Secondary Anti-Starship Turret + 4 Tier 7 (Light Anti-Mecha) Type 31 Anti-Fighter Turrets
• 8 Tier 7 (Light Anti-Mecha) Type 31 Anti-Fighter Turrets
• 6 Tier 7 (Light Anti-Mecha) Type 31 Anti-Fighter Turrets]] + 8 Tier 5 (Medium Anti-Armor) Type 32 Light Anti-Armor Turrets

A gun capable of firing Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) 300mm solid mass driver rounds, however, would not be considered a TEWG for the Yui 7-class Scout. It would instead be considered an OTW, due to the gun's ammunition being the same tier as the Yui 7.

The following are additional notes and errata for the rules described above.

• Mecha, small craft, starships, and vehicles with more weapons than the recommended maximum of weapons may not be approved due to being too overpowered.

• For weapon systems that use ammunition with different tiers: the ammunition with the highest tier determines the overall tier of the weapon system.

• For weapon systems located in turrets (like the Type 31 Secondary Anti-Starship Turret or the Type 32 Light Anti-Armor Turret): each individual turret is counted as a single weapon system, regardless of how many barrels or weapon systems the turret itself contains. The turret's tier is determined by the highest-tiered weapon system equipped on or within the turret itself.

• For missile launchers (like the Mini-Missile Launcher Pod): each “launcher” is counted as a single weapon system, regardless of how many missiles it can carry or launch simultaneously.

• Bombs and torpedoes deployed from a small craft’s hardpoints (like the Anti-Starship Torpedoes launched from a "Nodachi" Assault Fighter's hardpoints or the Strategic Aether Bombs dropped from a "Mamushi" Multirole Starfighter's hardpoints) do not count towards the weapon limits described in the previous sections.

Let's say that I'm an evil Mishhuvurthyar villain recently freed from imprisonment on Luna Bianca who has decided to create an 80-meter-tall Giant Robot Dinosaur so that I can wreak chaos, havoc, destruction, and despair upon the unsuspecting residents of Kyoto City.

Given that 80-meter-tall units fit under the “Light Starship” (Tier 10) category according to this chart, I can have:

• 8 Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) Weapons

• 2 Tier-Equivalent Weapon Groups

Since I want to have two Laser Eyes of Destruction™, I take those 8 Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) weapons and convert them into…

• 4 Tier 11 (Medium Anti-Starship) weapons

…and then convert those four weapons into:

• 2 Tier 12 (Heavy Anti-Starship) weapons

So, in the case of my giant robot dinosaur with laser eyes, it can kill with a glare.

But wait, I wanted it to breathe fire too! And I want my fire breath to cause more damage than my laser eyes. Back to the drawing board: I divide 1 of those Tier 12 (Heavy Anti-Starship) weapons back into 2 Tier 11 (Medium Anti-Starship) weapons. Those two will actually be my laser eyes. The bigger one is my fire breath. So, now, my loadout looks like:

• 1 Tier 12 (Heavy Anti-Starship) Plasma Flamethrower of Doom™
• 2 Tier 11 (Medium Anti-Starship) Eyes of Destruction™

Then I remember that I’ve forgotten about the 2 Tier-Equivalent Weapon Groups. Back to the drawing board one more time: I take those 2 Tier-Equivalent Weapon Groups and - since they're each “worth” a Tier 10 (Light Anti-Starship) weapon - split them into:

• 4 Tier 9 (Heavy Anti-Mecha) Spike Launchers of Devastation™

These launchers, located on the flanks of my Giant Robot Dinosaur, will be my point-defense against any pesky fighter jets the inhabitants of Kyoto City send to fight me. So, now my loadout looks like this…

• On-Tier Weapons:
  • 1 Tier 12 (Heavy Anti-Starship) Plasma Flamethrower of Doom™
  • 2 Tier 11 (Medium Anti-Starship) Eyes of Destruction™

• Tier-Equivalent Weapon Groups
  • 4 Tier 9 (Heavy Anti-Mecha) Spike Launchers of Devastation™

…and there we go. My Godzilla impersonator is armed and ready to smash, stomp, burn, rip, and tear Kyoto City into rubble! MUAHAHAHAHA!

Here is a link to an unofficial Weapon Limitations calculator made by Frostjaeger.