Re: Descriptive design system idea

On Wed, 12 Mar 1997, David Brewer wrote:

> Wave guns, nova cannon and reflex fields avail me not.

But Waveguns are remarkably similar to those Narn mine launchers <g>

...
> Missiles are a bit funny. As a long-range expendable there would be
> a pull toward designing ships with little damage and many, many
> missiles. I don't see that as good.

Well... LACs? <g> We have that trend in wet navy design now, I think...

If missiles are mass 2 = basic cost 8, a thrust 6 ship with 1 damage
box, 
10 missiles and nothing else would cost 143 points. The same 
(FTL-capable) ship in the Full Thrust design system would, if I remember

the missile cost correctly, cost 180 points (but then it would have 10 
damage boxes, not one). I don't think they'd be too much of a problem in

a campaign (where these missile boats would be extremely vulnerable to a

counterattack by light enemy ships), but in a stand-alone battle they 
might be too good.

However, is the Thing To Do to reduce the power of missiles (with AEGIS 
systems or similar) or to make the missiles more expensive?

> Many of the EW systems should probably be pointed higher (like area 
> ECM). Sensors are a little odd, in that basic sensor are 
> indestructable (e.g. have no record sheet symbol) and the usefulness
> of all sensors varies depending whether emplaced on an escort,
> cruiser or capital.

Hm. Come to think of it, I've always included the "basic sensor" 
capabilities in the FireCon - ie, an escort with an extra FC can scan
two 
ships. It's not in the rules, I know, and it hasn't turned up all that 
often (both because very few of our escort designs have multiple FCs and

because when the bigger ships start losing FCs, they already know what 
the enemy ships are...), but it kind of seemed logical. I'd just include

the cost for basic sensors in the FC cost.

Trouble is, of course, that that gives freighters military-grade basic 
sensors too...

Oerjan Ohlson

"Life is like a sewer.
 What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
 -Hen3ry