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[Edit2:]

Edit2:
After some reading I found this:

Nerve Damage
Once lead bullet fragments are taken into the digestive system, the lead is dissolved by the very acidic conditions found in bird and mammal stomachs.  This dissolved lead is absorbed into the bloodstream and then into the tissues and bones.  Once present, the lead destroys the myelin sheath that insulated the nerve fiber bundles. This disruption causes a number of problems, including tremors, convulsions, lack of coordination, paralysis of the digestive system, and eventually either kills the animal outright or makes it too weak to avoid predators.

Source: http://www.huntingwithnonlead.org/

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So, in in-game terms, maybe it'd also slowly reduce movement/firing speed as well as causing damage over time?

Oh, I encounter this problem so, so much. It's not so bad when you've got a small base with a few colonists. Larger bases with more colonists seem to suffer much, much more. It's so irritating because these fires destroy so much because it takes so long for colonists to put it out.

So yea, the fire-fighting system needs a massive shake-up. Maybe a system where fires are only prioritised by colonists with line of sight on the flames would work better? It'd make more sense than the weird fire-triggered hive-mind thing the colonists seem to have going on at the moment.

It should be a pro/con thing not just a simple upgrade that there isn't any reason not to take. For example your Tracer idea, tracers work both ways. Ie. The enemy can now see where your shooting from, so a Colonist using tracer rounds doesn't suffer accuracy loss at night, but neither do any opponents shooting at him.

Obviously, the system would indeed require some balancing; my examples were never meant to be a perfect represenation of the "finsished product". They were simply intended to give... Well, a basic example of how it would work, more or less.

"Oh a raid came at night...time to equip tracers on all my guns."

Again, a valid point. Again, with proper balancing, this sort of thing would be avoided. If my suggestion was to be implemented in the game, I'd want to make sure that you had a mix of ammo types (Say, Tracers for the guy with the power armour and the LMG, Armour piercing for the guy with the sniper rifle, hollow points for the guy with the Uzi, ect).

I do really like the idea though, one question: Would special ammo be "infinite" once researched or would you have to stockpile it? Would we have to stockpile normal ammo as well?

Seeing as we don't have limited ammo at the moment in the default game, I'd say that special ammo would also be infinite, in the same way "default" ammo is now.

Maybe you'd like to help me create a more balanced proposal? Then we could come up with a more complete list of the proposed ammo types, their strengths and weaknesses, ect.

I understand the problem of having to constantly manage my colonists while they use the mortars (Which, by the way, are horrendously inaccurate, even when being manned by colonists with a high shooting skill!  ).

I'd like to see them become automated, like the turrets; though, obviously, they'd require power to run.

Maybe it would be possible to implement this via the research bench? Maybe having a particular research option available that (after the default mortars have been researched) allows you to build automated mortars that are faster firing and have greater accuracy than their manned counterparts, but require more metal to build, and need a constant power connection would be the best option.

With the implementation of multiple ammo types, it would be possible to provide players with greater variation in terms of combat without having to add new weapons to the game.

You could, for example, make it possible to research different types of ammunition via the research table. Then, by right clicking on an unequipped weapon (One that colonists are allowed to interact with), you would be able to select from a drop-down list of various ammo types. Variants you haven't researched yet would still be visible in this list, but would be greyed-out. Each ammo type would have a different effect. For example, selecting "Tracer rounds" on a weapon and then having a colonist equip this weapon would mean that the colonist firing this weapon does not suffer a loss of accuracy when shooting at night/in unlit areas. Amour piercing rounds would increase the damage of successful hits on targets wearing power armour or armour vests, and would also increase the damage inflicted on fully mechanical targets. "Hollow point" ammunition would increase the damage inflicted on un-armoured targets (Targets that are not wearing armoured vests or powered armour), but would suffer from decreased damage when used against armoured targets/mechanoids.

The list of possible types is virtually endless.

So, any thoughts on this in terms of the effect on gameplay and in terms of practicality (how easy it would be to implement?)

I, for one, think it's an interesting idea.

This is clearly a good idea, but don't you think we ought to be sorting out the effects for the traits that already exist in game rather than trying to add even more on top of them? Come to think of it, do we even have a list of the existing traits in game?

I guess this is partly a story, and partly a request for some tactical advice, so feel free to laugh at my luck/misfortune, or even lend a hand if you feel like it.

(By the way, I don't have any screenshots to complement this, because they're saving in a folder I can't find at the moment).

Anyway, I'm playing on a large map (325 x325), with Randy Random as the Storyteller AI, mostly because I like having lots of room to expand, and I dislike the gradual ramping-up of the other Storytellers.

The Colony itself is in the top-centre portion of the map, and is surrounded on three sides by mountains/cliffs, which made it the best choice of location for defensive purposes. With a solid defensive line that's ever-increasing in size and deadliness, five mortars and two incendiary mortars, it's survived two rather large and prolonged sieges, and countless attacks by scurvy pirate raiders and Tribesmen (Filthy savages). It's pretty much proved impossible for raiders to successfully attack. We've even survived the AI Core event... Twice!

Except that the second time has proved to be something of an issue.

Being the sensible commander, I elected to have the Colonists man the mortars in shifts, and within a minute or so, the "Ancient Ship part" Took four direct hits at the same time and was destroyed.

Obviously, the resident Mechanoids were less than pleased about the destruction of the ship part, so out they popped.

I didn't expect that the 12 Scythers that appeared would be much of a problem, but the 5 Centipedes were certainly going to be, as the combination of miniguns and inferno cannons they were carrying would pretty much shred and burn any of my 11 colonists I sent out to kill them, despite the fact that all of my colonists were veterans of several battles, with high shooting and melee skill. Nor were they under-armoured or under-armed; my two best shooters had some looted power armour, and the rest had armoured vests, and (thanks to the project armoury modpack) were packing some serious heat. Between the lot of them, they were carrying the following:

One M2 Browning (Or Browning .50 Caliber Machine Gun).

One RPD, a 7.62mm light machine gun developed in the Soviet Union.

One SCAR - L  (Or Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle - Light).

One AK-47.

One SG552 Commando, an assault rifle manufactured by Swiss Arms AG.

One M79 Grenade Launcher.

One Accuracy International AWM (Arctic Warfare Magnum), a bolt-action sniper rifle manufactured by Accuracy International designed for magnum rifle cartridge chamberings.

x2 M4A1s, or M4 Carbines

One Callahan Fullbore Autolock "Vera" (Firefly fans rejoice!)

One PK Machine Gun, a a 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun designed in the Soviet Union.

In addition to this list, I have a number of small-arms, sub-machine-guns and various assault rifles in storage.

I've bombarded the Mechanoids with mortars, and I've assaulted them once, which resulted in the destruction of all the scythers and the death of my 11th colonist who got shredded as he covered the others as they tried to fall back to the colony. I'm now down one man, the others are all wounded to some degree, and the mortars aren't doing much to the Centipedes (On the rare occasion that they do score a good hit). The Mechs won't chase my Colonists after they move out of range, so I can't use the defensive positions to my advantage, but they are in a position that means that my colonists can't really get out to the rest of the map without running the gauntlet.

So, what do I do now? I guess I can just keep pluggin' away with the ol' mortars until the mechs finally get scrapped, but that's going to take a long time, and I'd prefer a solution that's quick, and keeps colonist losses to a minimum.

Any ideas? 

I have an android that is active and up to date: Mia from Miscellaneous

I did have a look at MIA, and whilst it's a very cool idea, it doesn't really fit my requirements very well, as Mia can't be mass-produced quickly and requires an AI core, something that's very rare and has another important use.

I don't know much about modding, but it occurs to me that you could easily create a mod closer to the one I requested by simply by tweaking the existing stuff you have with MIA

Lately, I've come to realise that there is a significant problem with  the core mortars; namely, they take so long to reload and fire that Colonists begin to starve whilst operating them, which forces me to un-draft them before the job is done.

I've looked around on the forums for a possible solution, and the only mods I could find that would be helpful in solving my problem were mods involving combat droids; though the only ones I found were either broken and abandoned, or out-dated.

My request is simple: Could someone create a mod to implement either:

A) Buildable Combat Droids that come pre-armed (Or unarmed, whichever's easier. My Colony has lots of spare weapons hanging around) that cost metal to build, and explode when severely damaged in a similar fashion to the core turrets and mortars. The Droids must be able to operate the core mortars.

B) Automated Mortars that operate without needing Colonists to man them, but require power to do so, much like the Core "Improvised Turret"

If you're interested, please reply to this thread below, and let me know you're working on it.

~Cheers, Bloodpool