Power Armor As Its Own Unit

[Bremen]

I already use light vehicles and flavor them as working like Elementals from Battletech. Compared to infantry, there's two real disadvantages:

1) Can't participate in boarding combat
2) Less benefit from fortification

As I see it, 2 is entirely fitting; someone in a big hulking suit of power armor is not going to gain as much benefit from trenches or pillboxes as someone in lighter armor that can crawl around. So 1) is the only real flavor change, and I can easily picture that as Aurora ships having narrow hallways and small bulkheads, as would make complete sense for spacecraft. Just because I like using WH40k for flavor doesn't mean all ships have vast echoing corridors.

Also if you want rare, specialized, and costly power armor you can always use gene modding for it.

[Andrew]

To me power armour is Elementals. WH40K Marines or traveller battledress which is just heavy infantry and carries heavier versions of infantry weapons. Anything carrying heaveir vehicle type weapons comes under the heading of Mecha which is vehicles for me.

[Bremen]

To me power armour is Elementals. WH40K Marines or traveller battledress which is just heavy infantry and carries heavier versions of infantry weapons. Anything carrying heaveir vehicle type weapons comes under the heading of Mecha which is vehicles for me.

Basically the dividing line I use is that since infantry with power armor can use personal weapons, then any armor where the soldier would reasonably use the same weapon as an unaugmented human makes sense as the infantry chassis. WH40k space marines are kind of borderline there; they use personal weapons similar to standard infantry but tend to use special larger and heavier versions.

If instead they wouldn't use man portable weapons like an assault rifle, then I treat it as a light vehicle. A quick google image search confirms Battletech Elementals fall in the later category.

Now, obviously you totally could use an infantry chassis but only give it crew served and anti-vehicle weapons and say they don't use puny normal weapons, I just figure the fact that it's an option means Aurora "power armor" is on a scale where it's supposed to fit. So something more like Halo or Fallout power armor than Elementals or x-Com MECs, to use examples.