EXACTLY! A terminator with an assault cannon should be a royal pain in the %$# to dislodge. A squad of assault terminators barreling down the hallway should be incredibly hard to stop, unless their flanks are neglected ans the enemy can encircle them.
As far as tactics, and Terminators, if say a team had no limitation on the elite types they could play just the "rep" to buy one and take it out, im ok with that. BUT at the same time of having that option, being the recipient of the beating should be counter rewarding, IE taking it out after the Terminator with an assault cannon killed you 20 times the EXP should be roughly the same value. At the same time, things like Artificer armor, and Relic armors with the higher then average durability, should also include a higher EXP/Credit reward, it may be hard to kill them but at the same time balance for when you do.
That's not at all a satisfying answer with the different types of damage, it's nonsense in the real world. Any explosive effect, small or large, shaped or otherwise - causes stresses on materials. A shape charge is better at focusing the force, but the force exists in either case. An explosive round into the treads of a tank could potentially damage the tread - it's why IED's are a thing - they don't have to be very powerful, but in the right spot they can fuck up a very expensive and otherwise powerful machine. Similarly in World War 2, and many of the tanks around the world even now - since for most countries they are little better than their WW2 counterparts - .50 cal rounds and larger were a threat: they could puncture the hull (and they aren't even explosive). Tanks have never provided immunity - they provide defense - like body armor - like shields - like virtually all defensive technology in history. Shields get punctured sometimes. Kevlar is really effective for the first shot, it's useless for sustained fire (despite what movies pretend). Tanks are the same. An M1 Abrams gives negative fucks about a single RPG. It gets pretty nervous about a dozen of them. In Baghdad in 2003, an M1 Abrams - the king-tank of the world right now - was taken out by a single lucky RPG-7 that punctured the armor into the fuel tank (it didn't explode, but it flooded the crew compartment with shrapnel and diesel). RPG-7's are little more than WW1 technology. You unload explosive bolt rounds into tank treads, tanks would likely feel that. You put them between the turret and the hull, you'll stress out the joints that allow it to turn and aim. You put them into the barrel and you'll dent and potentially jam the cannon. You put them into the right spot on a hull - or you just keep pounding the same spot over and over - you'll cause damage. Enough 9MM rounds put into the same spot will eventually bore their way through just about anything - the question is a matter of when, not if. Damage is damage. No defense is invincible.
I have to apologize, I've been away from the EC forums for a few months, at least as a regular. Have there been any updates or snippets of info I've missed in the OP that I need to add?
Completely disagree. An RPG orders of magnitude more powerful than a handgun. You are not going to bore through the front armor of an M1 Abrams with a dinky 9mm handgun. You have to dispense a certain amount of kinetic energy to cause hull damage- do you really think the joints of a main battle tank give a single, solitary &^%$ about a 9mm pistol? lol. Also note that RPG's are incapable of actually destroying an M1 Abrams- all they can do is effect a "mobility kill," taking out their locomotion. And even that is a lucky shot. In game wise, bolters can only damage rhinos in the rear armor, and only on a 1 in 6 chance, and even then they can't make them explode, they can only strip hull points (turning them into wrecks rather than exploding). If they do damage, make it rear armor only and on the side. Keep in mind the explosion from a bolt shell isn't that big- is meant to explode inside a living being so it doesn't need a massive charge. Also, as far as IED's go- you do know that make them shaped charges, right? Because if it isn't a shaped charged, it will jack all to an armored vehicle.
As a matter of fact you can bore a hole through a tank with a 9mm, you just need TONS of ammunition, time, and keep hitting the same spot over and over again.. His point wasn't that a 9mm can or cannot puncture a tank, it's that nothing is impervious, everything can be taken down given the right tools for the job. If man made it, man can break it.
Closest thing to compare related to the actual topic are all the various RL body armour types for different threat level. You got a point by saying kevlar / composite armour is not reusable. But the way you say it, it's like discarding the most effective way of protecting yourself nowdays. Yeah I know there's graphine and other fancy material being developed. But kevlar / composite armour is still the best around and only useless once hit by a number of rounds, not just a single round as you claim and nowdays you got coating over ceramic over composite and other mixtures providing the maximum of protection you can get. Besides, so what ? u simply replace them. It's not like you're shot at with 9mm soft point in a war. Your lvl IV vest absorbs 7.62x39 mm rounds and even 7.62x54 mmR steel core. They can take quite a number of rounds depending on protection level, weapon and cal ( including the ones mentioned ). I got definitly more objections to other interesting statements in your comment but I got Asheru on my mind - and "no off topic" ^^ so I have to restrain myself though it's VERY difficult. Point being, Terminator armour should be like nowdays Level IV compared to level I - II. It should not be a problem for a handfull of Marines to take it out with a hail of Bolter rounds. Now what might be a total overkill, especialy in deadzones ( closed hallways etc ) is stormshield with melee weapon because as much damage Bolters might do, even without stormshield the Termi armour would absorb an entire magazine like nothing and despite moving considerably slower it will kill you either at range or close up. My only suggestion would be to simply limit the availability depending on size of battle. Not entire Termi squad.
