For some reason that cannot be fathomed at this remove, over the first year or so of the BattleTech/MechWarrior campaign I was part of in high school, our referee proceeded in the unshakable belief that the "center torso (critical)" listed when you roll a 2 on the hit location chart was a special thing; that it didn't simply mean "roll for a critical hit on the center torso, as if your armor was gone in that location," but in fact meant "when hit here, this 'Mech is instantly disabled." (The handwavey explanation for it had something to do with a really important but tragically delicate piece of the reactor control system that caused an instant, irrevocable shutdown if it broke.)

This appears nowhere in the rulebook, for the simple reason that it is daft, but critically (if you'll pardon the expression), neither does a detailed explanation of what is supposed to happen. It's just there on the table—"center torso (critical)"—and you have to work out for yourself what that means. In this instance, I would (and did!) argue that it's obvious from context, but it wasn't specified anywhere.

As such, I suppose I shouldn't mock the Technical Readout: 3026 quite so much for assuming that people needed everything spelled out for them in ludicrous detail. Clearly... some did.

Also: A proper center torso (critical) hit can only blow up your 'Mech if you're keeping ammo in your center torso. Why are you keeping ammo in your center torso? Don't keep ammo in your center torso. :)

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
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