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[Darrian Wolffe]

OK, so here's a good example of a place where not only us, but everyone - from the Demo Team to MegaMek to the game's writers - are playing the rules wrong because they take too long.

For anyone who wants to follow along, the rules references are TW, p173, TacOps, p184, and BMM p77.

When a Building is struck by an AoE attack (including Bombs, Artillery, and Artillery Cannons), follow the following procedure:
1) Triple the standard damage in the target hex.
2) Double the standard damage in the 6 surrounding hexes.
2) Double the standard damage in the building level above and below the point where the AE damage hit.
3) Apply the standard damage again two building levels above and below the point where the AE damage hit.
4) AE weapons deal double damage vs buildings (p174) - note that whether this doubling is additive or multiplicative is left unsaid

In practice, this would mean that, at a minimum and assuming additive doubling, an indirect Long Tom shell which hits the center hex of a 7-hex area building, would deal the following damage:

Center hex: 60 points (double damage v buildings) + 90 (triple damage as p173) + 60 damage (double damage against 1 level down from the impact point) + 30 damage (standard damage 2 levels down from the impact point) + 0 (no building exists above the impact level). Total: 240 CF per hex

Each adjacent hex: 40 points (double damage v buildings) + 40 points (Double damage in 6 surrounding hexes as per p173) + 40 (double damage against 1 level down from the impact point) + 20 damage (standard damage 2 levels down from the impact point) + 0 (no building exists above the impact level). Total: 160 CF per hex

Note that, since many attacks only partially damage buildings (due to the building not being in the AoE), this has to be calculated, by hand, every time an artillery shell splashes a building.  Given the limited hours we have to play, and the fact that you guys like to have artillery available, this is simply not a tenable rule for use in our group.

For the duration of this campaign, unless a particularly solid reason comes up, we will continue simply doubling the damage when a building takes CF damage from an AE source.  That is a reasonable middle ground between the insanity of the TW ruleset, and the BMM BSP rules, wherein artillery does only its base damage to buildings and isn't increased whatsoever.

[Darrian Wolffe]

Oh, and hey.  According to Keith (Xotl), the BMM damage rules simply replace the TW rules, because nobody official has ever actually used the full TW rules anyway.

BMM p77: "If a building hex is damaged by artillery, and there are Mechs (units) in the building, the full damage is applied simultaneously to both the building as well as the units."
BMM p96: "...when determining AE damage to a building, double the normal damage and apply this once to the building's CF."

So we've been doing it correctly all this time (double damage to the building's CF).  Just...by accident.  

[Ice]

What was the ruling for inferno rounds vs buildings as well as inferno rounds vs infantry in buildings

Was there some huge change we had to it

[Darrian Wolffe]

What was the ruling for inferno rounds vs buildings as well as inferno rounds vs infantry in buildings

Infernos vs Buildings
Two ways to handle things:
1) If using setting fire rules, infernos set a building on fire as per the normal rules
2) If not using setting fires rules, BMM p107 states that each Inferno deals 2 damage to the building (and if there's a Mech inside, the inferno will also affect the Mech on a 5-6 on a 1d6 roll).

Infernos vs infantry in Buildings
Because BMM doesn't deal with Infantry, TW p172 still applies.  Basically, you can't shoot at directly at infantry if they're in a building, and you have to shoot at the "building", with the intent to damage the infantry inside.  As long as you have LoS to the level of the building the infantry are in, you can do this.  The damage affects the building normally, and the infantry will take a percentage of the damage you dealt to the building.  So if there's a Rifle Platoon (Foot) on Level 3 of a 3 level Heavy building, and you shoot at the "infantry in the building" with 2 SRM-4 (Inferno)s, and hit with 6 missiles...the building will take 12 damage from the missiles.  

Now, each Inferno missile which strikes a conventional infantry unit deals an automatic 3 damage.  This is reduced by the percentage level of the building type; a Heavy building reduces damage to infantry inside it by 75% (rounded up).  3 damage * 0.25 = 0.75 damage/missile, rounded up to 1.  So the infantry would lose 6 troopers from the  attack.  A Light building reduces damage by only 25%.  3 damage * 0.75 = 2.25 damage/missile, rounded up to 3.  The infantry would lose 18 troopers if they were in a Light building and struck by the same attack.  In all cases, you total up the total number of Infernos which are affect that infantry unit throughout the entire Weapons Fire Phase, and THEN figure the number of troopers killed.

Oh, and incidentally, Burst-Fire weapons have no additional damaging effects against infantry in buildings.  An MG does 2 damage.