[FT] Coilguns

A few months ago, during one of the many "What should we do about the 
Kra'vak?" discussions, I posted an idea for a variant Railgun design.  
Now that I have finally had a chance to sit down and do some work upon 
it, here it is again:

(I will likely be using it for an entirely new race of Aliens, and for a

few human ships, but it could also be employed as another weapon for the

Kra'Vak, supplementing the already existing Railguns.)

COILGUNS:

A Coilgun uses a series of electromagnetic coils to accelerate a piece 
of iron or steel down a tube.  It is similar, in both function and 
effect, to a Railgun, but has no moving parts and is, overall, the more 
efficient design (at least according to what *I've* been reading).  The 
Coilgun fires a single very large projectile at very high speeds (Yes, 
the "Shotgun" approach makes a lot more sense.	This *looks* cooler, 
though.), and is capable of doing a tremendous amount of damage to a 
target.  That's the good news.

The bad news is that hitting one piece of metal--even one the size of a 
Carrier--with another piece of metal at the distances and velocities 
common to Full Thrust is not easy.  It's not impossible, but as a 
general rule it is a lot easier to hit a close target than it is to hit 
a distant one (although Coilgun ranges are, theoretically, unlimited).

MECHANICS:

The firer must roll higher than the range to the target on 4d6, 
rerolling all sixes.  If this results in a hit, roll a number of d6 
equal to the class of the weapon (again, rerolling sixes) and total the 
results to determine damage.  Points equal to the class of the weapon 
are applied to the target's armor; all remaining damage (if any) is 
applied directly to the hull.  Screens have no effect upon Coilguns; 
Kra'Vak armor subtracts one point/level from each die rolled.

      Example:	The HMS "Plot Device" is firing a Class III Coilgun at	
   
      the KRS "Convenient Example".  The "Convenient Example" is 16
      inches away. The "Plot Device" rolls 4d6, for a total of 19
      including rerolls.  The target having been hit, the "Plot 
      Device" then rolls 3d6 for damage, resulting in 18 points of
      damage (again including rerolls).  3 of these points are
      applied to the armor of "Convenient Example", and the remaining
      15 are applied to the hull.  The "Convenient Example" then
      explodes, taking a large piece of the SFX budget with it.

As already noted, it is not easy to hit a target with a Coilgun.  
Because of the amount of processing power this requires, all Human ships

must have a dedicated Firecon linked to each of their Coilguns.  If this

dedicated Firecon is lost, the gun can no longer fire.	Kra'vak ships 
can link up to THREE Coilguns to a single Firecon, but all guns linked 
in this fashion must fire at the same target.
(Links should be indicated on the SSD by a dotted line joining the guns 
to their Firecon.)

   Weapon			Mass		  Point Cost   
Class I Coilgun:		3			  10		
      
Class II Coilgun:		6			  15
Class III Coilgun:		9			  25
Class IV Coilgun:		12			  40

Coilguns are limited to a single Fire Arc, and this cannot be improved.

			     *****
I am not sure about the Mass or Point costs yet.  Playtesting is, 
obviously, required.  Should they be able to fire through multiple arcs?
 
I like making the KV depend on their manueverability myself, but YMMV.	
The dedicated Firecons are there strictly as a balancing effect, and to 
prevent Capital ships from mounting 30 or 40 Class I Coilguns.

All right, I'm ready...you may fire at will!

John Crimmins
john1x@hotmail.com

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