Re: [FT] Railgun Goals

At 09:22 PM 11/25/98 -0800, you wrote:
>John and Roxanne Leary <realjtl@sj.bigger.net> wrote:
>
>>    The 'K' rail gun is a device that throws a stream of small dense
>>'BBs' across the path of the target ship.   (thus the 'swiss cheese'
>>comments in the rules)   The primary difference between each of the
>>three types is the addition of power storage/charging units on the
>>larger railguns.
>>Type 1 = railgun + charger
>>Type 2 = railgun + charger + charger
>>Type 3 = railgun + charger + charger + charger
>>The increased damage function of the guns is due to the following shot
>>being more compact (shot pattern) and of increased accuracy due to the
>>tracking of the preceding shot placement.
>
>I'm not sure I agree with this concept. I think that the size of the
BBs
>will also vary with class, assuming we go with the BB model. Even
though
>the class 3 uses the same basic railgun system, it's a bigger one.
>
>The idea of a superdense spindle blowing through another ship,
regardless
>of the realism involved, sings to me.
>
>My personal preference is for a middle ground - a handfull of larger
>projectiles. Not one big one or millions of small ones.
>
>Schoon
>
>
I have to agree.  The shotgun approach seems MUCH more sensable...but I
like the thought of one big shot a lot better.	It's much more visually
appealing, somehow.  However, as another option....

     "The spotlight tracked the packet for visual confirmation of
deployment, which came at once as eight small shaped charges burst. 
Each
threw a fifty meter length of iron chain away from the center.
     "As the pinwheel unfurled, she thought, *They should call it a
spiderweb--that's what it really looks like.*
     "...Even a torpedo that burst exactly where desired would probably
not
do significant damage.	On a ship like [the target] nothing was close to
anything.
     "But a chain-link spiderweb 100 meters in diameter had to hit
something...they would slash through like grapeshot."
	Kevin O'Donnell, Jr--"Fire on The Border",pps. 21-22.

I think that the big spiderweb has both visual appeal, and makes sense. 
It
lets you cover a large area, while still presenting a small target for
area
defense.  Just a thought, that's all.

John X Crimmins
johncrim@voicenet.com
  "...is one of the secret masters of the world: a librarian.
They control information.  Don't ever piss one off."
  --Spider Robinson, The Callahan Touch.