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yvannairieStill on the topic of war and strategy, I was also pointed to this post about archery and armour and quickly eyeing through it, the power math behind bows actually works a lot like how I imagine ion blasters to work in TF?
At their maximum range, the effect is primarily concussive, and doesn't strike through armour, and depeding on the calibration of the weapon, you might have to get very close to really "punch holes" into other mecha with them -- their primary damage came from damage to under-armour components like wiring, joints and surface electronics, eventually overtaxing the frame's support and repair systems. Only large-bore cannons, weapons with some form of secondary charge, and weapons calibrated for vacuum being fired in vacuum retain their effectiveness at their maximum range, but they're weapons that can also one-shot people at their effective range, so that's a given.
This is why avoiding continuous fire is important, but a few stray glancing shots won't take any but the frailest of mecha out of the fight. Also, there are some places where a direct hit will disable the mech instantly, even with a lighter payload, but one-shotting any mecha is usually done with mass-acceleration weapons or even the occasional combustion cartridge rifle as opposed to blaster fire. After all, it's the difference between needing one 100% accurate shot, which is aa dependent on circumstance and position as it is on soldier ability, versus needing three or four 45% accurate shots to overwhelm and disable your target just as decisively.
This leads to mobile infantry (as opposed to infantry in defensive positions) using all sorts of kiting and feinting tactics, although depending on the infantry there might be way more slamming directly into the enemy defenses. Between opponents of equal size and weight, ramming tactics always favour the party doing the ramming, because they'll have more control over how the damage is distributed, and will have better recovery, especially if they have any kind of fire support, either with their own weapons during the manoeuver, or from supporting artillery -- and frankly, sometimes physically slamming into your opponent does more, and better dispersed, damage than firing at them even from point-blank range. It all depends on how the armour they wear matches up against the weapons you carry.
In general, sustained blaster fire is still damaging enough that getting into melee range as soon as possible is recommended, because most melee attacks only deal blunt force and physical damage, whereas most blaster fire damages not only the armour, but the electronics underneath it. Medics can fix armour, broken struts and damaged wiring fairly easily, and a lot of it is standardised for easy replacement as well, but electronics by and large are unique to the individual, and while circuit surgery is common, it's very hard to do in field conditions and it's often safer to allow the self-repair system to fix the damage.
