Napalm Grenade Launcher

Mech Weapon

Napalm Grenades
Type	Technological
Damage Type	Heat
Heat	6
Ammo	100
Rate of Fire	1s cycle time
Burst Length	1
Damage	15
Trigger Type	Timed Fuse
Range	60m
Projectile Velocity	20m/s
Hard-mount	Bandit
Included with	Bandit
Mount Points	Stomach
Cost	1
Damage per Second	15
Heat per Second	6
Damage per Heat	2.5
Damage per Cost	15
DPS per Cost	15

Creator's Notes

The Bandit Grenade Launcher is a short to medium range lob weapon, launching a payload in an arc in front of the mech a short distance. The main strength of this weapon is not only in it's ability to deliver several different payloads, but also in it's unique nature. In effect, it can be thought of as a light artillery weapon. However, unlike most artillery, the projectile does not detonate upon impact with the terrain or obstacles. Rather, it has two methods of detonation. First and foremost, it the grenade impacts another mech, it will detonate immediately. However, if it does not come in contact with another mech, a timer will trigger the weapon's detonation after a short delay, typically just over one second. This means that it's possible to rebound the projectile off of objects, or bounce it against walls and around corners. This allows the Bandit to potentially punish opponents for hiding behind cover with several bounced grenades into their hiding position. This means that it's also possible to use the weapon in a sort of 'air-burst' mode. As the pilot is able to control the weapon's trajectory by elevating their aim up and down, a skillful pilot can cause the grenades to detonate before reaching the ground, potentially catching air-born targets in the blast. This works well in conjunction with some of the weapon's grenade options, allowing a pilot to create a temporary 'no fly zone'.

Like many other lob weapons, the grenades carry the momentum of the mech's movement. This means, firstly, that firing while on the move can increase the weapon's range, allowing shots to reach a surprising distance. Combined with the Bandit's high base ground speed, the normally very short ranged weapon can become a very effective light artillery unit. This also allows for pilots to angle their shots to the sides quite easily. This combined with the ability to launch a second shot into the air before the first detonates on it's timer allows the Bandit to create a near-constant rain of explosive shells on enemy positions from a surprising distance.

The Napalm Grenade, while also possibly being a war-crime, is an interesting choice for Bandit pilots wishing to cause as much annoyance and frustration to the enemy as possible. While dealing considerably less damage than the Explosive Grenade, the Napalm Grenade's main strength lays in it's ability to create long-lasting areas of affect that not only damage anyone stuck in the area, but inflicts building amounts of heat on the targets as well. While one grenade is unlikely to severely damage or force a shut-down to an enemy mech, the long-lasting nature of the burning areas it create allows a skilled Bandit pilot to saturate a small area with overlapping zones of fire. This can effectively create no-go zones for enemy mechs. Not only can this block off routes of attack or retreat, but overlapping AOEs stack, inflicting not only stacking damage, but heat as well.

Like the other grenades, the ability to bounce Napalm Grenades off walls or have them detonate in the air allows the Bandit to not only reach hidden opponents, but also create mid-air obstacles for air-born mechs to run into. Because the AOEs last so long when compared to the re-fire rate of the launcher, it's possible to identify an enemy's primary route of attack and saturate the path with multiple overlapping areas of fire, inflicting significant damage to enemy mechs forced to go down that path.