Actually, I'm trying to find a middle ground between realism and game balance.
The 9mm vs. .45ACP is a good example.
In the RAW, they both do 2D6 damage, but the 1911 only holds 6 round while some 9mm hold up to 15 rounds.
Based on this, the 1911 appears (in RAW) to be inferior and not worth carrying.
In reality, the 1911 packs a major wallop with those .45ACP rounds..often knocking a target down with one center mass shot.
The 9mm does not always knock down a target and sometimes requires multiple rounds to down a target. So having more ammo in it is a good idea.
The RAW makes almost all handguns the same..while in reality, they are made to approach the problem of dropping a target from different points of view. Some (ammo) uses sheer impact to deliver damage while others rely on penetration or high velocity to inflict damage.
Tema69,
I can see a penetration system being useful if you convert to a system where armor soaks damage rather than makes you harder to hit. Then you can use the Pen# to ignore the Damage resistance of the armor.
I'm trying to avoid having to rewrite every weapon in the RAW just to make the system work (though now that you have me thinking about penetration of armor, I might just have to set aside some time to play around with the armor mechanics.
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