Re: Albedo ACV's in Full Thrust

>>>	  I am trying to find a way to represent ACV's in Full Thrust.
>>
>>I'd throw in my 2c worth if I knew what an ACV is (Air Cushion Vehicle
>>comes to mind, but not in a space game!).

For those not familiar with the Albedo universe, it's a 'funny animals'
comic, with a surprisingly strong hard-SF feel to it. ACVs, Autonomous
Combat Vehicles are a case in point:

"Starships form a defensive/offensive perimeter about themselves with
ACVs,
'smart' missiles that can not only trac and attack a target, but plot
their
own tactics and strategy as independent weapons or in concert with other
ACVs and the mother ship. ACVs have a comprehensive array of
communications
equipment and sensors, and thus serve as intelligence ferrets and
command
relays. ACVs are based upon the jump-capable message torpedoes used for
interstellar communications, but lack the jump drives of such systems.
Capable of acceleration spurts of up to 50Gs, ACVs come with a variety
of
add-on features such as beam generators, automatic cannon, and
submunitions. While normally unarmored, the computer cora and reactor
packages can be buried in layers of armored protection over a meter
thick.
This block (usually accompanied by a spray of multiton iron slugs) makes
up
most of the impact mass for ramming attacks and bombardments.

"The reaction times for these kind of ship-to-ship actions are in orders
of
magnitude too fast for a ship's organic masters to follow, and thus are
handled by a group of disconcertingly intelligent computers. A ship's
artificial intelligence computers require their live crews for
maintenance,
back-up, and creative tactics plotting in the days of approach before a
combat begins."
--Albedo RPG, 2nd Edition, pp 122-124

Judging from the ship silhouettes on p. 92, these things are about 10m
long, and about 5m in diameter. Another picture (p. 127) shows a
starship
in formation with 3 of these things.

Offhand, I'd say if you put a C battery on a MT missile, you'd about
have
it. As far as AI, the omniscient view of the player simulates that
pretty
well, and MT missle movement covers the "50G acceleration". No idea how
to
cost them, though.

I'd be interested in seeing any actual starship designs for Albedo/FT. I
suspect a true Albedo-style conflict wouldn't involve more than one or
two
starships/side. Most action (from what I know of Albedo) seems to be
more
in the vein of DSII or SGII.

Just to drag in another thread: for the true fanatics out there, compare
and contrast Erma Felina with Honor Harrington....

------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Jim 'Jiji' Foster / jfoster@kansas.net / Jiji @ AnimeMUCK / TIP #28 /
PPIG #42

"The wisest and best of men, nay, the wisest and best of their actions,
may
be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke.
"
    - Jane Austen, _Pride & Predjudice_