Lasers

A weapon system which fires (pulses) of coherent light beams generated through a Gennium-Arsenic crystal.

Vehicle, Aerospace and Naval-grade Laser weapons are normally rated by the length and diameter of their focusing crystal. Thus, a 7.5/3 laser has a crystal that is 7.5 meters long and 3 centimeters in diameter. They are used in both ground and space combat.

When carried on capital ships, capital-grade lasers are mounted in clusters of 10, 25, 50 or 100 lasers of the same size.

Laser Weapons in the Legionnaire RPG

^(W.I.P.)

Weapon	Affil.	Dmg	Dmg (Veh)	Short Range	Medium Range	Long Range	Ammo (cost)	Power per shot (reserve)	Cost (talents)
KessRith Burner ("K-Burner" Laser Pistol	TOG	6	--	60 (+2)	200 (--)	500 (-2)	--	1 (10)	390
Protector Laser Pistol	CW	6	--	50 (+1)	200 (--)	450 (-1)	--	1 (15)	410
Gilmore Class Laser Rifle	TOG	?	--	?	?	?	--	?	?
Akley Laser Rifle	TOG	12	--	350 (+2)	1,000 (+1)	1,500 (-2)	--	2 (40)	450
Sly Class Laser Rifle	CW	?	--	?	?	?	--	?	?
Sabre-Cut Laser Rifle	CW	12	--	500 (+2)	1,200 (--)	1,900 (-1)	--	2 (40)	500

Laser Weapons in Centurion

Laser Cannon

Lasers are among the longest-ranged weapons on the Centurion battlefield. With their deep narrow damage profile, they are also very good penetrators of armour. This is balanced by the fact that lasers are easily deflected by flicker shields. To achieve a decent hit probability at long range, the laser needs to have the target´s shields "painted" by a painting laser, which requires the laser-armed vehicle to work in conjunction with other units that are closer to the enemy. Lasers are also incapable of indirect fire, so they need a clear line of sight.

In Centurion, the main types of laser cannon are:

Centurion Laser Weapons

Weapon	Range	Damage	Damage Profile	Modified by Shields?	Indirect Fire?	Damage Against Infantry												Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
						-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1.5/1 Laser	20	2		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	24,000
1.5/3 Laser	20	4		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	2	5	5	60,000
1.5/4 Laser	20	5		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	2	7	7	84,000
1.5/5 Laser	20	6		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	2	8	8	96,000
1.5/6 Laser	20	7		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	2	10	10	120,000
3/6 Laser	20	8		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	3	3	3	15	15	180,000
5/6 Laser	20	9		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	3	3	3	3	19	19	228,000
7.5/6 Laser	20	10		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	2	3	3	23	23	276,000

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Anti-Personnel (AP) Lasers

A tank's main defensive weapon against infantry, an AP laser fires a rapid succession of flickering beams rather than one long continuous pulse. Useless against any kind of armour due to its low penetration, the AP laser is devastating against vulnerable infantry and capable of laying down a swathe of suppressive fire.

Centurion Anti-Personnel Lasers

Weapon	Range	Damage	Damage Profile	Modified by Shields?	Indirect Fire?	Damage Against Infantry												Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
						-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
AP Laser	3	-	-	No	No	-	-	1	1	1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	5	5	60,000

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Painting Lasers

All military ground and grav vehicles carry low-power lasers used to read shield flicker rates and guide missiles and bombs to their targets. due to their function on the battlefield, they are widely known as "painting lasers".

Most infantry combat rifles are equipped with "painting lasers" that are but a fraction of the power of their larger vehicular cousins, requiring eight units to match the "illumination" at significantly shorter ranges.

Vehicle-mounted units have a practical range of 4 km, infantry units have a range of 1.2 km.

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Vulcan Anti-Missile Laser Systems

An Augustus tank´s Vulcan system targeting missiles.

The Vulcan is an autonomous weapon system with its own radar to track and destroy incoming missiles from any direction. It utilises rapid-cycle, short-range lasers to destroy enemy missiles just before they hit the vehicle.

Vulcan Anti-Missile Systems

Vulcan System	Range	Damage	To Hit Rolls vs. Number of Missiles Engaged					Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
			1	2	3	4	5
Vulcan-1	0	-	5	2	1	-	-	5	5	20,000
Vulcan-2	0	-	8	4	2	1	-	8	8	30,000
Vulcan-3	0	-	9	5	3	2	1	12	12	46,000
Vulcan-4	0	-	9	6	4	3	2	15	15	60,000

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Infantry Laser Rifles

In Centurion, Legionnaires armed with laser rifles have the same damage profile as spike rifle-armed infantry; what the laser rifles lack in ammunition capacity and rate of fire, they make up with superior penetration and accuracy. In all, the resultant effect against vehicle armour and infantry is comparable. Laser rifles are more fragile and need more frequent adjustments than spike rifles; the only units routinely issued them are Special Forces commando squads (for their accuracy and silent operation) and Marine units (because they work in vacuum and are recoilless, which is an advantage in zero-gravity combat).

Infantry may make one attack against a target that has moved in the same turn, two attacks against a stationary target, or three attacks against a stationary target in the same hex. All attacks in the same turn must be directed against the same target.

Infantry attacking a target in the same hex as they are may freely choose the side of the target that is attacked ("close assault").

Infantry Laser Rifles

Number of Legionnaires	Range	Damage	Damage Profile	Modified by Shields?	Indirect Fire?	Damage Against Infantry												Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
						-1	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	6	1		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	-	-	-
2 - 3	6	3		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	2	2	-	-	-
4 - 5	6	5		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	2	3	3	3	-	-	-
6 - 7	6	7		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	-	1	2	3	3	3	3	4	-	-	-
8	6	9		Yes	No	-	-	-	-	1	2	3	4	4	4	4	4	-	-	-

---

Laser Weapons in Interceptor

Laser Cannon

Due to the heat generated by the weapon and the danger of stray radiation by cracked Gennium-Arsenic crystals, laser cannon are often spaced away from the fighter by mounting them on the wings.

With their deep and narrow damage profile, lasers are a common armament on starfighters on both sides of the border. KessRith fighters and corvettes in particular use arrays of powerful, long-range laser cannon. Older Commonwealth fighters are usually armed with particle weapons, but more modern designs combine this armament with lasers to be able to undercut armour. The TOG mainly used a combination of lasers and mass drivers during their war with the KessRith. As the Commonwealth became the Empire´s main enemy with the TOG invasion in the early 6720s, Imperial tactics shifted to fast strike fighters carrying large numbers of missiles, backed up with weak secondary armament. Recently, with the Commonwealth constantly improving anti-missile tactics and the advent of the Safeguard system, the new military trend on both sides swings towards exclusively laser-armed fighters. ---

Interceptor Laser Cannon

Weapon	Damage at Ranges					Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
	1 Hex	2-3 Hexes	4-6 Hexes	7-10 Hexes	11-15 Hexes
1.5/1 Laser			--	--	--	2	2	24,000
1.5/2 Laser			--	--	--	4	4	42,000
1.5/3 Laser			--	--	--	5	5	60,000
1.5/4 Laser			--	--	--	7	7	84,000
1.5/5 Laser			--	--	--	8	8	96,000
1.5/6 Laser			--	--	--	10	10	120,000
Weapon	Damage at Ranges					Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
	1 Hex	2-3 Hexes	4-6 Hexes	7-10 Hexes	11-15 Hexes
3/1 Laser				--	--	4	4	48,000
3/2 Laser				--	--	7	7	76,000
3/3 Laser				--	--	9	9	104,000
3/4 Laser				--	--	11	11	132,000
3/5 Laser				--	--	13	13	156,000
3/6 Laser				--	--	15	15	180,000
Weapon	Damage at Ranges					Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
	1 Hex	2-3 Hexes	4-6 Hexes	7-10 Hexes	11-15 Hexes
5/1 Laser					--	7	7	84,000
5/2 Laser					--	9	9	108,000
5/3 Laser					--	12	12	144,000
5/4 Laser					--	14	14	168,000
5/5 Laser					--	17	17	204,000
5/6 Laser					--	19	19	228,000
Weapon	Damage at Ranges					Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
	1 Hex	2-3 Hexes	4-6 Hexes	7-10 Hexes	11-15 Hexes
7.5/1 Laser						10	10	120,000
7.5/2 Laser						12	12	144,000
7.5/3 Laser						15	15	180,000
7.5/4 Laser						18	18	216,000
7.5/5 Laser						20	20	240,000
7.5/6 Laser						23	23	276,000

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Laser / EPC Combination (LEPC) ^{(Commonwealth / Renegade forces only)}

The LEPC-18 schematics, as appearing in the Renegade Legions Fighter Briefing

In this weapon system, Commonwealth engineers tried to synchronise a 5/1 laser with an Electron Particle Cannon to achieve an undercutting effect on armour. The EPC is timed to impact an instant after the laser hits, creating a characteristic T-shaped damage profile. The weapon has met with mixed success; when encountering shielded targets, often the EPC beam is stopped even if the laser achieves a hit through the shield.

To achieve a hit, first the laser must penetrate the shields. If the laser fails to hit, both weapons are stopped by the shields. If the laser hits, it does its normal damage, and a second roll is made for the EPC. If the EPC hits as well, its damage profile (shown in a lighter shade on the chart) is applied on top of the laser hit.

For construction and weapon firing purposes, the Laser/EPC is treated as a single weapon system. Due to the bulk of the complex synchronising circuits, the system weighs more and demands more power than the single cost of the two weapon systems combined. It is also rather fragile and needs frequent re-adjustment by maintenance personnel.

Interceptor Laser / EPC Weapons

Weapon	Damage at Ranges					Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
	1 Hex	2-3 Hexes	4-6 Hexes	7-10 Hexes	11-15 Hexes
LEPC 9					--	40	17	120,000
LEPC 14					--	55	20	219,000
LEPC 18					--	66	24	338,000

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Cone Laser ^{(TOG forces only)}

The Cone Laser is a standard 7.5/6 laser cannon whose beam is modulated on a shifting frequency differing from the standard. One of the effects of this modulation is a rapid beam attenuation over longer ranges, but increased damage potential on close targets, but it also creates a unique damage profile. When the laser strikes armour plating and begins to vaporise the titanium, the armour particles refract the beam into a conical shape that incidentally makes it a superb weapon for undercutting armour.

Only the TOG military employs the Cone Laser. Large and bulky (and immensely power-hungry), the Cone Laser is still being tested as of 6830. Its only documented use is on the test-bed CWTP fighter. There may be a few more experimental craft operating the weapon. 

Interceptor Cone Lasers

Weapon	Damage at Ranges					Power Used	Mass (Tons)	Cost (Talents)
	1 Hex	2-3 Hexes	4-6 Hexes	7-10 Hexes	11-15 Hexes
Cone Laser				--	--	35	35	120,000

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Laser Weapons in Leviathan

^(W.I.P.)