Weapon jamming has been implemented as of the latest update, so what does this mean? First and foremost, that all weapons have a chance to "jam". If you think it's absurd that a laser could jam like an autocannon, you'd be right. Something else is being represented by the jamming mechanic, however, and that is Murphy's Law. A laser can't jam per se, but something else can always go wrong, and will go wrong just when you need it most. Your Techs can go over that thing with a fine tooth comb and it can still "jam" during the course of a battle. Those are the kinds of events that soldiers must deal with under combat conditions. On the other hand, you can get through combat without a single "jam" — if you're lucky enough.
Not all weapons jam equally as often, though. The aforementioned laser is easily the most reliable because it's mechanically the most simple; the same cannot be said for an Ultra autocannon. Weapons thus come in four categories, from A-D:
- Cat A: Few / no moving parts & no recoil = Laser, PPC, Flamer, TAG
- Cat B: Moving parts & minimum recoil = COIL, MG, AMS, Gauss, LRM, SRM, & Rocket
- Cat C: Moving parts & moderate recoil = Autocannon, LB-X AC, Rifle, & Thumper
- Cat D: Moving parts, high recoil, and plain unreliability = Ultra AC
The above shouldn't need much justification, especially given how notorious UACs are for jamming. The basic rule of thumb is: the simpler the better. The Gunnery skill of your pilot has an affect on the chances of your weapons jamming, though it's not as extreme as it is in Roguetech (where, with high enough skill and certain gear, weapons will never jam). Gunnery now represents not only the pilot's shooting skills but their weapon skills more generally, and with greater experience comes greater ability to minimize the chances of screwing up, and when something does screw up — of being able to troubleshoot it faster while under enemy fire. At Gunnery 10 the chances of a jam are very low but they will never be non-existent, while jams will be cleared much more quickly.
Since this is a game, at the end of the day, things are currently more unreliable than they would be if they were developed for a military IRL. If you're curious by what I mean when I say "more unreliable" lets look at a few real-world examples. First up, one appropriate to the scale of Battletech.
The autoloader from the T-80 series MBT:
The autoloader is insensitive to scorching heat, freezing cold, nor does it care how fast the turret is spinning, thanks to its impeccable sense of balance. It does not matter if the tank is rocking around like a bucking bronco at 50 km/h over the most gutted dirt paths. The autoloader will still load a shell in the specified time, every time.
In reality, autoloader failures are exceedingly rare (but not non-existent)... The propensity for autoloaders to malfunction either from wear and tear or from a knock on the turret tends to be greatly exaggerated.
Dust testing consisted of each rifle getting a heavy dose of lubricant, the muzzle being capped, and the ejection port cover closed. Then, each weapon was exposed to a heavy dust environment in a dust chamber for 30 minutes. After the dust bath, a tester fired 120 rounds through each weapon. Then, back in the dust chamber they went for another 30 minutes of sand spray and dust bathing before having to fire another 120 rounds. This sequence was repeated until each weapon had fired 600 rounds.Then, all the weapons were wiped down and lubed again with heavy lubrication, and put back in the dust chamber for 30 more minutes, 120 rounds fired again, repeated to 600 rounds. At the 1,200-round mark— and every additional 1,200-round mark thereafter— the weapons received a full cleaning and lubrication. This continued until the testers had put a total of 6,000 rounds through each individual test weapon. Ten guns per weapon type times 6,000 rounds each comes to a total of 60,000 sandy rounds through each weapon type.
The base percentage chance of a weapon "jam" (otherwise known as Gunnery level 1) by category is:
- Cat A: 1.5%
- Cat B: 1.75%
- Cat C: 2.25%
- Cat D: 3%
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