Name:  Hardened
Type (Category):  Armor (Core)
Reference:  Tactical Operations: Advanced Units & Equipment (p. 92)

Description:
Hardened Armor uses thicker, overlapping plates to enhance a unit’s protection at the cost of flexibility. Though hardly a novel concept, production-quality Hardened Armor that consistently enhances protection and minimizes its negative effect on unit mobility remains an elusive goal for most Inner Sphere manufacturers.

Game Rules:
Each point of Hardened Armor can sustain two points of damage. To reflect this, when marking damage off on a location protected by this armor type, draw a single slash through the armor bubble for the first point of damage sustained, and a second slash, making an “X” (or block the armor bubble out entirely) after the second point (at which point any remaining damage affects the internal structure normally, unless any special rules apply).

Penetrating critical hit checks (including “floating” critical hits) against a unit protected by Hardened Armor (such as those caused by rolling a 2 on the Hit Location Table, or during a successful Swarm Attack) suffer a –2 modifier to all rolls on the Determining Critical Hits Table (including Vehicle Critical Hits Tables). If the attack did not strike a location or facing protected by Hardened Armor, this critical hit modifier does not apply.

In addition, Hardened Armor negates the bonus armor-penetrating effects of Armor-Piercing Ammo, Tandem-Charge Missiles, and Tasers. If these weapons are fired against a location protected by Hardened Armor, their damage is not reduced as above, and so they deliver their damage as if they were standard weapons hitting standard armor (Armor-Piercing Ammo hits as a standard AC round; Tandem-Charge Missiles hit as standard SRMs; ’Mech Tasers inflict only 1 point of armor damage).

Units using Hardened Armor suffer noticeable mobility impairment that affects piloting and speed. To reflect this, ’Mech units that carry Hardened Armor suffer a +1 Piloting Skill target modifier and –1 Running MP. Combat Vehicles using Hardened Armor suffer a +1 Driving Skill modifier, but no loss in MP. This MP reduction does not affect the number of Improved Jump Jets that can be mounted.

BattleMechsIndustrialMechsCombat Vehicles

Prototype Date:	3047
Production Date:	~3081
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE * See rules for this equipment
AT = Armor Tonnage

RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
ALPHA STRIKE WEAPON CONVERSION TABLE
Special Unit Abilities

Record Sheet Output → Armor Diagram:  HA

Prototype Date:	3061
Production Date:	~3081
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE * See rules for this equipment
AT = Armor Tonnage

RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
ALPHA STRIKE WEAPON CONVERSION TABLE
Special Unit Abilities

Record Sheet Output → Armor Diagram:  HA

Prototype Date:	3047
Production Date:	—
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE * See rules for this equipment
AT = Armor Tonnage

RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
ALPHA STRIKE WEAPON CONVERSION TABLE
Special Unit Abilities

Record Sheet Output → Armor Diagram:  HA

Prototype Date:	3061
Production Date:	—
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE * See rules for this equipment
AT = Armor Tonnage

RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
ALPHA STRIKE WEAPON CONVERSION TABLE
Special Unit Abilities

Record Sheet Output → Armor Diagram:  HA

Prototype Date:	3047
Production Date:	~3081
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE * See rules for this equipment
AT = Armor Tonnage

RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
ALPHA STRIKE WEAPON CONVERSION TABLE
Special Unit Abilities

Record Sheet Output → Armor Diagram:  HA

Prototype Date:	3061
Production Date:	~3081
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE * See rules for this equipment
AT = Armor Tonnage

RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
ALPHA STRIKE WEAPON CONVERSION TABLE
Special Unit Abilities

Record Sheet Output → Armor Diagram:  HA