Military Assault Laminates, producers of the successful Shock Armour and the Sector Ranger’s modular armour systems, continues to push the envelope of powered armour technology with their latest coup: The ablative armour enhancement block. More than simple heavy composite armour plates of high density laminates and impact resistant ceramics, enhancement blocks – or sections, as they are sometimes called – consist of small subunits on a flexible attachment system. This allows a block to be quickly mounted on practically any part of an existing powered armour, considerably reinforcing its protective qualities without requiring time-consuming moulding of custom plates and the complete replacement of the originals as is the case in common armour upgrades. If there is one drawback to the system, it is that most light armours do not have a power chassis designed for the additional encumbrance, resulting in slightly reduced agility. This decrease in mobility is kept in check though by the relatively low weight made possible through the ablative design of the enhancements. While the ablative quality lets the armour degrade under fire, new blocks can be easily added without the need for extensive repairs.
Ablative armour comes in three grades of variable thickness.
A single block of light ablative armour costs 65c, while a medium section costs 135c and a heavy one 210c.
Game Use:
Ablative armour can be added in sections to existing powered armour. The ablative armour acts as an outer layer, and is hit first by any attacks.
Each section of ablative armour has ID 1.
A maximum of five sections can be added to the torso of a powered armour suit, three sections to each leg, and two sections to each arm, no ablative armour may be mounted on a helmet.
Light ablative armour has PV 10.
Medium ablative armour has PV 15.
Heavy ablative armour has PV 20.
Medium ablative armour imposes a -1 penalty on the wearer’s DEX.
Heavy ablative armour imposes a -2 penalty on the wearer’s DEX.
If the PV of the ablative armour is higher than that of the underlying armour there is an additional -1 penalty to DEX. If the PV of the ablative armour is twice that of the underlying armour or more this penalty increases to -3.
Damage to ablative armour cannot be repaired. The sections have to be replaced.