Re: Fw: Weapons for Newtonian based FTIII

On Mon, 5 May 1997, Phillip E. Pournelle wrote:

>	  One of the rules I added regarding Sand Clouds was that if a
Pulse
> Torpedo Launcher targeted the Sand Cloud that it would be dispersed.
> Obviously other area effect weapons could disperse the cloud as well.

May I inquire as to how so? Pulse Torps are not area effect weapons in
any 
sense of the word.

Sandcasters are a nice idea, especially the defensive effects, and I can
even stomach some (very) minor damage. But potentially obscene damage
levels...  IMHO you'd need to play 3D to stop rather unrealistic
envelopment attacks. 

As I've pointed out, even calculating the relative velocity is not 
something you want to do without a calculator.

Even determining sand hits hints at phases and... (shudder) SFB. No 
thanks. 

Proposed amendments:

1) No damage. Contact with a missile, though, removes both from play.
2) Shooting through any amount of cloud gives an extra level of screens,
or a -1 to hit. Number of clouds shot through is irrelevant.
3) Due to slight irregularities in the launch, sand clouds disperse to 
the point of being ineffective over time. Let's say 6 turns. This is 
reduced by 1 turn for every full 10" of velocity the cloud has.

Btw: Nosemounted casters are quite ok. In fact, flying in the middle of
a 
sand cloud might be a good tactic.

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