Rant - The Light Laser

There was a discussion - which I may join soon - on the Steve Jackson Car Wars grouplist about what was the most useless weapon/accessory. Nobody said "Light Laser" and it's a testimony to just *how* useless it is that it's not even on the ordinary players' radar. Lordy.

It's still available on MADHAT so I know that it hasn't been jettisoned yet. Why does it still exist. I say 'still' because at one time it used to be the best 1 space weapon available. For the same weight as an MG, double the cost, but with unlimited ammo (in a 30 second duel), and the best to hit around. And they could start fires, and Laser-Guidance was introduced then it became the cheapest way to home your rockets in.

Then the fire rules changed, the targeting laser was introduced, and all the fancy ammo for the MG made it a better choice. The Light Laser doesn't need to exist.

Proposed rule changes to save the Light Laser

A regular Laser gives you 3d for 2 spaces, Heavy Laser 4d for 3. Why is a LL only 1 die? Make it 1d+3 damage and it's back in the saddle as the best 1 spacer.

and/or Make the to-hit 5

and/or Make the LL automatically fire twice a round (lasers are so fast)

and/or Reduce the effectiveness of a targeting laser (e.g. a max number of rockets per TL)

Note that I think these rule changes are necessary - because new equipment should not make the old equipment *useless.* It's a sad state of any runaway RPG when the new ideas run faster than the playtesting (but I'll save that for even another rant).