>>That's not really an issue. Machine guns are light. A pair of machine
>>guns and the ammo to run them weighs a single ton if you're using Clan
>>tech, a ton and a half if you're using Inner Sphere.
>
>Oddly, in MechWarrior 4, machinegun arrays weigh two tons no
>matter what (but the Clan versions have more firepower), which is the
>same as a medium pulse laser.

Probably because it's a machine gun array. They're giving you a bunch of fire-linked guns.

>
>I came up with the weapon load for Stark's Warhammer (it didn't
>come up in the 'Drome scene, but its name is "Engine 51" - spot the
>reference!) off the top of my head and without reference to any formal
>'Mech-building system; any discrepancies between it and what you could
>get in, say, MechWarrior 4: Mercs can be put down to my error
>or, if you really want, explained by some technological advance
>developed "recently" by VMW's timeframe. Lighter heat sinks, maybe.

Well, I can't speak for MW4, but it works in regular BattleTech.

>
>(Well, that and there isn't a Warhammer chassis to build on if
>I were going to test it out in MW4, which is the most convenient way
>of doing it. The closest I could get would be to build it on a
>Thor OmniMech chassis. Which I've done; the "WHM Type"
>Thor tends to be one of the mainstays of my arsenal in Mercs,
>but I could be misremembering the number of lasers or what have you.
>Come to think of it, if he has the tonnage for four medium pulse
>lasers, why does he not just use two large ones? Eh, I'm examining
>this too closely. :)

The MPLs do more damage and produce less heat, the only advantage to using large lasers would be range, and you've got range covered with the PPCs.

>
>(As an aside, all the real roleplayers in MechWar name their
>'Mechs; Nene's Mad Cat is called "Stompy McBangBang" for
>convoluted reasons.)

I can totally see Nene naming her 'Mech that.

Polychrome