SV: Pulse Torpedoes vs. Submunition Packs

----------
> Från: Jonathan Davis <davis@albany.net>
> Till: FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
> Ämne: FT:  Pulse Torpedoes vs. Submunition Packs
> Datum:  den 31 oktober 1997 02:29
> 
> The list has been too quiet.
> 
> I've given some thought to the 'useless' Pulse torpedo.  Mark
> Kochte isn't the only one who seems to have trouble making 
> the to-hit rolls for the things.  I too have never been 
> enamoured with them.
> 
> 
> A pulse torpedo will generate the following average points
> of damage:
> 
>		      0-6"    6-12"   12-18"  18-24"	    
> Pulse Torpedo       2.31    1.75     1.16    0.58
> 
> By comparison a single submunition pack will do the following:
> 
> Submunition Pack    2.00    1.33     0.66    0.00
> 
> If you compare the two weapons by a comparable mass basis,
> where a Mass 5 PT has the same mass as 5 sub packs, the 
> single turn damage potential for five sub packs is:
> 
> 5 x SubPacks	     10.00    6.66     3.33    0.00 
> 
> Given that both weapons have the same one-arc restriction, 
> the torpedo destroyer is not as good of a purchase than a
> close assault destroyer mounting 5 subpacks, and either 
> a C Battery and a PDAF, or two PDAFs.

This analysis forgets that the SubPack is one-shot while the PT isn't;
this
always indicates the SubPack as a much more powerful weapon than it is.
Compare 2 SubPacks with a single-arc B battery (vs no shields), for
instance:

			    0-6"    6-12"   12-18"  18-24"	  
2*SubPack	    4.00    2.67     1.33    0.00
B battery:	       1.33    1.33	0.66	0.66

The B battery costs 5 points, the SubPacks cost 2. "Clearly", the
SubPack
is much stronger than the B, no? Why then bother with beams at all?
Especially since they aren't affected by shields :-) OK, in the FT2
design
rules the B battery can have up to 3 arcs, but it seems likely that
multi-arc batteries will pay a mass penalty in FT3 (and I've played with
such penalties for a long time now).

Of course, a DD isn't always that likely to survive to shoot more than
once. On bigger ships (strike cruisers :-), the PT is more likely to
shoot
multiple times, which increases the value.

Still, it _is_ weak even when compared to beams. The damage per mass
point
caused by it (and B batteries, which have the same range) are:

				   0-6"    6-12"   12-18"  18-24"	

B batt. vs no shield	  0.66	  0.66	    0.33    0.33
B batt. vs 1 shield	   0.50    0.50      0.25    0.25
B batt. vs 2 shields	  0.33	  0.33	    0.17    0.17
B batt. vs 3 shields	  0.17	  0.17	    0.08    0.08
Pulse Torp (mass 5)	0.46	0.35	  0.23	  0.12
Pulse Torp (mass 4)	0.58	0.43	  0.29	  0.14

The original (mass 5) pulse torp is less effective than two single-arc B
batteries against any target with a single or no shields, and a little
bit
more effective against heavily shielded targets - much more, in the case
of
shield level 3. By reducing the mass to 4, the PT gets better against
most
shielded targets (except shield level 1 at ranges 6-12" and 18-24"), but
it
is still worse than the B batteries against unshielded targets - and, of
course, it can only be mounted to fire forward. As with the A batteries,
I
think a mass 4 weapon is better balanced.

Later,

Oerjan Ohlson

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