Re:IF & needles

>From Bif Smith:

> Oerjan, if your saying pulsar arced needle beams (3 mass=3arc), what
would
> be a reasonable mass for a heavy (longer ranged) needle beam. Would a
mass
> of 5 for 3 arcs and a range of 18 MU be reasonable?

I took this one on a while back:

Heavy Needle Beam - Mass 5, Cost 15, one arc only. With one dedicated
firecon per target, HNB's act as two normal Needle beams, targeting the
same
system on the same ship. If two sixes are rolled vs Main drive (or any
other
2-hit system), the main drive is totally destroyed. Two sixes vs. other
systems destroy the target system, score one normal damage vs. hull, and
then reroll once as per normal beams (skipping armor). With two
dedicated
firecons per target, HNBs can fire as a single normal needle beam
between
12" and 24". SSD Symbol: As Needle Beam but with two "barrels" coming
out of
the black circle. 

I'm personally not a big fan of a multi-arc needle at the moment, but
Ithink
I could get over it. The reason why I made up the HNB is because normal
needles are virtually useless in FT2.5 (this from too much experience).