Are MGs just there to waste space and weight?

[Cloak and Dagger]

Seeing as how MGs do almost no damage, are they really useful for anything?

What do they do that a small laser can't do much better and for less weight?

Can any one honestly say the 6xCERMBL Puma really needs 2xMGs more than it needs an extra heatsink?

[[NGNG] Cattra]

They are very effective against infantry, I can tell you that out of experience.

[Cloak and Dagger]

There are no infantry, so...

[[NGNG] Cattra]

"Battle Armour" then if you are going to try to squirm around simple terms even though BA is still considered infantry by definition.

[Cloak and Dagger]

Except that on every mech except maybe an LRM or Arrow Boat, the primary and secondary weapons are far better at killing them than the MGs.

[[NGNG] Cattra]

Aye that may be so but do you really want to waste heat and recycle time when you could just have a simple MG do the job and most of the time quicker since the DPS is higher.

[Cloak and Dagger]

Higher DPS? MGs do 10 damage per second to mechs. An IS small beam laser is literally 4.5x as powerful.

The space and weight would be much better put into armor, heat sinks, or electronics.

[CGB [CoffiNail]]

i use them to distract enemies.  at ridiculous ranges.  Their red hit identifier still goes off at mgs hitting them 1200m out.  Campers off on a far off ridge, circle around and toss a 20s round of mguns at them, see a crouched LRM boat, toss some MG their way and they will stand. LT too far off for you to get too, but you can still see it... plink plink plink and watch it in amusement as it un deploys.

[IG142]

If I'm in a Catapult B, I'm not going to waste precious MRM ammo on a BA. Unless it's an emergency and I absolutely have to kill the BA instantly, the Mguns work just as well.
The Puma C's CERMBLs do work well on BA, but generate a lot of heat and take time to recharge. I can fire Mguns nonstop and reserve the lasers for heavier targets.

The same logic works for just about any asset. Ballistic or missile weapons have limited ammo and energy weapons generate excess heat, both of which you might not want to waste on BA when you have bigger fish to fry. Larger weapons of any kind also often have long reload times, which makes missing with them especially painful.

If you're only going to fight 'Mechs with them, by all means use SBLs. Mguns aren't designed for that. They're a light support weapon to defend against light armor. They're even useful for harassing aircraft, with a high damage multiplier and no hard maximum range.

[Cloak and Dagger]

Except that MGs take up weight, and you could have an ENTIRE TON of MRMs for your catapult, or an extra double heat sink for your Puma instead of the useless MGs.

[=KoS= Saber15]

Mguns are good because:
A-You can spray it at stationary tanks to completely blind them.
B-They do great damage versus air assets
C-Long ranged way to make BA run away. I don't necessarily fear Mguns when I'm playing BA, but they make me take cover.

They'd be much better if you could actually do damage versus mechs (say at <100 meters, they do appreciable damage, like half that of a small pulse laser or something), but they're hardly wasted space.

Wasted space are TAG lasers. 

[Cloak and Dagger]

A basic small laser does 4.5x the damage of a MG.

An MG gets a 5x multiplier to aircraft, so it does just over the damage of a basic small laser.

[1N4001]

Megaguns are decoration.

[=KoS= Saber15]

A basic small laser does 4.5x the damage of a MG.

An MG gets a 5x multiplier to aircraft, so it does just over the damage of a basic small laser.

Except the machine gun also has infinite range and causes aeros to shake.

[[NGNG] Cattra]

A basic small laser does 4.5x the damage of a MG.

An MG gets a 5x multiplier to aircraft, so it does just over the damage of a basic small laser.

Except the machine gun also has infinite range and causes aeros to shake.

Not to mention range