@Radio
Battlesuits just don't use exoskeletons. When I first started designing the HRB, I started with an exoskeleton. PW said that all those exoskeletons need a physical body inside of them to operate, or they just collapse, so just directly building robotic arms would be the most efficient way to construct it.
I'm not saying that we couldn't strengthen the battlesuits, I'm just saying that the exoskeletons don't work like you think they do.
@Nik
Yeah, it's kinda funny at that. The main problem we have to deal here with is that this is (was) the HMRC, and that sort of idiotic behavior is to be expected. Furthermore, sometimes there are just too few tokens to spend on being reasonable and cautious (even while trying to be effective/competent) - thus I seek to lower the bar on that as much as possible.
Mm. True, plus weapons are often a lot more obvious choices for purchase than armor. Right now, pretty much the entirety of our conventional weapons are well known and understood, but the only armor that is affordable and well known is the CDL. Milnoplate and battlesuits are just too expensive to be a common purchase.
I do agree with you that having the lightest armor be one token is best.
Yeah, that heavy robobody is probably still more protective just by design, but (if I am not mistaken on protection level and size) the Protectorare suit could be used in a very similar role by not-brain-in-a-jar people. In many cases, it does not matter whether you have (say) four layers of battlesuit armor or just two?
Also, with our newfound reliance on robosods, an upgraded variant of Protectorate suit would be more former inmate-oriented rather than for sod use (which was, if I remember correctly, one of the main ideas for the heavy robobody of yours).
:|
To be perfectly honest, there's a section of my brain that feels insulted that I should make a suit for fleshies, despite that being very inefficient effectiveness wise. If they want to keep their squishy inefficient meatsack bodies, then let them get shot!
That part of my brain aside, I was planning on making a Milnoplate-style suit standard. As you pointed out, one layer of battlesuit plate is just as good against small arms as five. The primary issue that you have is that even if your armor is perfect, the raw force of a large kinetic weapon can still give you a concussion or break ribs. I believe Milno demonstrated this on the sharkmist mission, when he was shot in the head and nearly knocked out, despite wearing milnoplate AND an avatar cloak. His armor wasn't even scratched, but he took damage.