Missile costs: SB1 v Mercs

[Tor]

The original "Rifts Sourcebook" has a section called "Robot and Armor Repair". It includes costs for:
*mini-missiles on page 55 (under "Power Armor and Man-Size Robot")
**more expensive than the costs listed on RMBp204 under the CR-1 Rocket Launcher (1000/2200 v 1200/2400)
***does this mean that mini-missiles specialized to work in PA instead of rocket launchers have an added fee for guided?
*short/medium/long range missiles on page 56 (under "Robot Vehicle")

This section remains in the revised/updated "Rifts Sourcebook One", all on page 37. Not all remained the same. Overview:
*high-explosive and fragmentation mini-missiles remained the same cost
*armor-piercing and plasma now list the previous cost as a minimum, and now ranges upward to over double that
*short/medium/long remained the same

This remains a stark contrast to data in Rifts Mercenaries, however. Page 106 lists costs alongside SAWS for:
*mini-missiles, more expensive than SB1, price is repeated on page 111
*medium-range missiles, less expensive than SB1, price is repeated on page 107
*long-range missiles, more expensive than SB1, price is repeated on page 111

I don't recall if a cost for short-range missiles is anywhere in Mercs, not sure if anything uses them.

Not sure how to interpret this. Does this mean that Wellington Industries (in Manistique Imperium) and Iron Heart Armaments (in New Kenora) both sell really expensive mini-missiles and really low-price non-minis? Should we use the SB1 prices for all other suppliers besides these two?

Another possible house rule I thought of: use the lower Mercs prices for the original-style missiles and the higher SB1 prices for the powered-up Coalition War Campaign versions?

Also wondering, with the CS having conquered New Kenora, could that affect the ability to get IHA vehicles like the Iron Bolt?

[Mack]

Newer books trump older ones. Just use the prices from SB1r, since it's the latest, and don't try to over think things. You're investing more mental energy into than the author did.

[Tor]

Which author? Carella wrote Mercs after SB1 and Kev did SB1r. Odds are Carella didn't know Kev assigned missile costs in SB1 (or opted to reduce the bigs and boost the little) and Kev didn't know (or only noticed after it had gone to print) that Carella assigned new missile costs in Mercs.

Since it's nice for all to be canon, I like the idea of cheap missiles being exclusively a Wellington/Kenora thing, of course now that CS took out Kenora, Wellington is now the only cheap supplier, are they next on the CS hit list?

[Shark_Force]

as far as IHA vehicles being harder to find due to new kenora being destroyed... yes. yes they are. how could they not be?

[glitterboy2098]

Which author? Carella wrote Mercs after SB1 and Kev did SB1r. Odds are Carella didn't know Kev assigned missile costs in SB1 (or opted to reduce the bigs and boost the little) and Kev didn't know (or only noticed after it had gone to print) that Carella assigned new missile costs in Mercs.

Since it's nice for all to be canon, I like the idea of cheap missiles being exclusively a Wellington/Kenora thing, of course now that CS took out Kenora, Wellington is now the only cheap supplier, are they next on the CS hit list?

presumably they'd be cheap for a reason though. for the SRMs, MRMs, and LRMs i'd say cheap = less specialized warheads (HE and Frag) as well as no guidance.
for Mini's i'd say similar.. HE/Frag warheads, and maybe they lack the inertial nav set up that allows a mini to be fired from some of the odd launcher facings (like the ones where they apparently go "up and over" and make a 90% turn to head to the target. i'm assuming that while mini's are unguided, they'd have a basic interial nav system and could be programmed for simple course corrections)

AP missiles, Plasma, multi-warhead, and for the MRm's and LRm's, nukes, should always be on the higher end of the price scale.

[Tor]

Maybe the SB1s are like... expensive universal missiles you can load into any bot that can fire SRMs/MRMs/LRMs while the cheap guys in Mercs only work for the unit you buy them for?

IE if you stockpile on Wellington missiles you can only use them in Wellington missile launchers, giving them incentive to offer them cheap since it guarantees you will need their product to use your stockpile and can't just resell them to fund some other company's vehicle.

[Alrik Vas]

What did I miss? I thought mini's were basically rockets and not guided. Unless you mean NE micro missiles.

[ShadowLogan]

You could also view the fluctuating cost of the missiles to be variations in the market and time.

Market cost would be based on supply and demand for a given region. Plus each book (SB1/Mercs/SB1r) takes place in slightly different time periods, so the values could be fluctuating due to that (just look at the cost of gasoline in the US over the past 10years)

[Mack]

Which author? Carella wrote Mercs after SB1 and Kev did SB1r.

1) Newer books trump older ones.
2) The dude who owns the company and is the overall author/editor for everything.

Either one leads to the same person, and the same answer.

[Tor]

There is not, however, a fixed cost for all things. Costs can already fluctuate up or down based on availability, so I'm saying this could explain differences in cost.

The lower missile costs (except minis) are in the context of Wellington selling them with/for SAWs and New Kenora (Iron Heart Armaments) selling them for their tanks/missile vehicles. I don't see how this would conflict.

SB1 prices haven't changed aside from a higher upper tier for top-scale mini-missiles. Seems like Wellington/IHA learned how to make them cheaply (mass production?) and perhaps the CS saw a threat in that.

The CS may keep the cost of mini-missiles inflated (putting strict controls on their use and sale, making them illegal) to lessen the threat they pose.

[Nox Equites]

as far as IHA vehicles being harder to find due to new kenora being destroyed... yes. yes they are. how could they not be?

I assume that most of the serious manufacturers can copy the designs or be close enough that most couldn't tell the difference. GAW should be able to construct the torpedo boat without trouble if they want to do so. NG could easily make copies, they might have an agreement not to directly copy IHA models but their techs can get around that in so many ways.