SPECIAL AMMUNITION

By: Chris Van Deelen  chrisv@nucleus.com

I hate to admit this, but again, this article isn't an original.  I wanted to
write up an article which covered the various types of ammunition used by
military forces today, and after doing some research on the net, I found this
article on a Cyberpunk 2020 site.  After long consideration, I decided to use
it.  I have converted the majority of the rounds to Morrow Project.  I have to
give full credit to the original authors 'The UK Cyberpunk thinktank', who
beat me to this article by years.

Armor Piercing
This type of round has a steel core below its copper jacket, allowing greater
armor penetration.
Effects: Armor is halved when hit by this type of round.  Reduce the Efactor
by the armor value, then halve the damage (round nearest) for rounds that
penetrate.  Thus a 9mm round (Efactor of 9), hits resistaweave (armor 8). 
Half of its armor value  equals 4.  5 points get through.  halve this and you
get 2.5 or 3 points damage

Armor Piercing Incendiary:  Use the above rules for armor piercing, but use
the information on pg 22 MP TM 1-1 for the incendiary round.

Armor Piercing Incendiary Tracer:  Use the above rules for armor piercing, but
use the information on pg 22 MP TM 1-1 for the incendiary, and tracer rules.

Depleted Uranium Core Ammunition
Uranium is extremely heavy, making it perfect as a armor penetrator.  DUCA
rounds can only be used in military weapons.
Effects: Armor is only worth .25% of its original value.  Reduce the Efactor
by the effective armor, then reduce the damage by 25%  (rounding nearest) for
the rounds that penetrate.  Example.  a 7.62mm round fired from a M21 sniper
rifle has a Efactor of 17.  It hits a target protected by a 3mm boron/carbon
filament plate (armor factor 35)  25% of the armor equals 9.  It penetrates,
causing  8 points of damage,  75% equals 6 points of damage.

Dual Purpose
This type of ammunition has a heavy metal core surrounded by a lead jacket. 
When the round hits, the soft lead jacket expands like a hollowpoint.  If it
hits armor the soft lead jacket is stopped and the heavy metal core tears
through the armor, as an armor piercing round.
Effects:  against armor, the armor is decreased by  half its value, and then
the Efactor of of the round is at .75.  Against bare flesh, the Efactor is
increased by 1.5.

DumDum
Bullets with small cuts in the metal  jackets that cause them to break up in
the body, causing bad wounds.
Effects: Armor is increased by 50%.  If armor is penetrated, the damage equals
Efactor that penetrated x1.75.  Thus, a 9mm round (Efactor 9) hitting
resistaweave (armor 8 increased would be 12) would cause no damage.  If it hit
bare skin however, it would cause 16 points damage, probably killing the
target.

Flechette ammunition, Shot Gun Flechette Package
This round contains a pack of several flechette darts.  At point blank range
the flechette's hit as a group, all on the same location.
Effects:  This type of ammunition is totally ineffective against any type of
hardened armor (the rounds shatter harmlessly).  But against flesh, or even
cloth or mesh armor, this weapon can be devastating, depending on the type of
flechette.  At point blank, and short ranges, the entire package hits the same
location.  At medium range, it begins to spread out.  Take the total damage,
and divide it up equally around the location.  Example a shot hits the target
in the torso, dead center.  Divide the damage evenly between upper 1, 2, 3,
and lower 1, 2, 3.  If the round hit in the shoulder, divide up the damage
between 4, upper 3, 2.  Not exactly realistic, but it works.  Now, if the
weapon is fired at long and extreme range, use the automatic fire table.  Each
flechette that hits causes one point of damage.  All shotgun rounds have a
total of 21 flechette per round.  The new Efactor is 12 (roughly /5 damage per
flechette).  Remember, any type of armor that isn't hardened, provides NO
protection (this includes resistaweave).

Flechette ammunition, Handguns and rifles.
These contain a single sabotted flechette, which is fired like a normal
bullet. When the round leaves the gun the sabot falls away allowing the
flechette to fly free at very high speeds.
Effect:  As above, this round penetrates any armor except hardened.  When it
hits, it bends and twists upon entering the target.  The wounds are more
punctures and tears.  Typically, the round is lodged in the target, requiring
surgery to remove.  At point blank range, the sabots do 1.5 times the normal
Efactor in damage.  At short range, the Efactor is increased by 1.25.  At
medium and long range, Efactor is normal, and at extreme range, the damage is
Efactor at .75.

Flechette Options
Fragmentation Flechette rounds.  This type of flechette is designed to break
up upon entering the target, increasing the damage caused.  It can be used
with both the shot gun and the handgun and rifle rounds.  Damaged caused is
increased by .25%.  This is cumulative with the range damage modifier.
Poison.  The flechette rounds have tiny hollows which contain poison that is
injected directly into the target upon impact.  So, not only does the target
suffer the damage, but they then have to check against the poison.

Hollowpoints
Bullets with hollowed out tips to allow them to expand upon impact
Effects: Armor is doubled.  If armor is penetrated, the damage equals Efactor
that penetrated x1.5.  As mentioned with DumDum rounds, hitting armor would be
ineffective, but hitting bare flesh would be devastating.

Jacketed Hollowpoints
Hollowpoint rounds with metal jackets that reduce expansion, to increase armor
penetration
Effects: Armor is increased by 25%.  If armor is penetrated, the damage equals
Efactor that penetrated x1.25.  Again, if a 9mm round (Efactor 9) hits
resistaweave (armor 8, increased to 10) it would cause no damage.  If it hit
an unarmored location, it would cause 11.25 or 11 points of damage.

Magnum
This type of ammunition is larger than normal, to accommodate more grains,
increasing the rounds Efactor.
Effects:  The Efactor is increased by 50%.  Example.  A 9mm round with an
Efactor of 9 would be increased to 13.5 or 14.  The round can then be made
into any other type of ammunition, such as armor piercing, hollowpoints, etc. 
Makes for a nasty combination.

Mercury Tipped Hollowpoints
Hollowpoints that are filled with mercury to greatly increase expansion upon
impact, causing terrible exit wounds.
Effects: Armor is doubled.  If armor is penetrated, the damage equals Efactor
that penetrated x2.25.  Again, using 9mm rounds, odds are it will not
penetrate most armor.  But if it hits an unarmored target, the damage it
causes is hideous.  On top of that, if the target actually survives the round,
they are subject to mercury poisoning, which is equal to poison class C.

Titanium Rounds
The bullet is solid titanium with a Teflon jacket. Titanium is almost half the
weight of steel, yet has the same strength, so the bullet travels a lot faster
than a standard round and slows down quicker in the target. Unfortunately it
also slows a lot faster in normal travel, making it armor piercing only at
point blank to medium ranges.
Effects:  Armor is halved if range is medium or less.  No matter the range,
Efactor remains the same.  For example, a round from a 9mm handgun (Efactor 9)
fired at point blank against resistaweave (Armor value 8) will halve the armor
value (making it effectively 4) so the round will do 5 points of damage
instead of 1.  At any range beyond medium, the round will only cause 1 point
of damage.

Tracers:  See page 22 of MP TM 1-1 for details.

Tungsten Carbide
Tungsten carbide is very heavy and very hard. It is very doubtful that anyone
except the project will have this type of ammo, as the tools and the knowledge
would have disappeared over the past 150 years.  This type is an excellent
armor piercing round.
Effects:  Armor is at 30% of its value.  Efactor is halved for the damage when
it penetrates.  Again the infamous 9mm round has a Efactor of 9.  Again it
hits resistaweave (armor 8).  The value is reduced to a third, which makes it
now 2.4 or 2.  The round penetrates, causing 7 damage, halved is 3.5 or 4
damage.
