Re: DS2 VTOL vs ADS

At 08:58 1/31/98, John Leary wrote:
>     I am not able to find my rules and only remember that (somewhere
>in the dark recesses of my mind) the allow the use of railguns
>against anything that it can see.   I also remember that they
>are considered to have a high volume of fire making them suitable
>for AA work.

A quick scan through the rulebook fails to turn up that bit...the
description of MDCs on page 8 does indicate a high volume of fire, but
nothing about hitting anything it can see. The paragraph below on HELs,
however, does indicate that *they* can hit about anything in line of
sight,
plus they have a range of 60". So...

Why not develop an AA unit based on a High Energy Laser? They've got the
range, they'd be quick to aim and track (a mirror on a gimbal system is
the
main moving part, no bulky turrets or barrels), all you'd need is a
sensor
suite sharp enough to pick up on fast-moving targets like aircraft.

Two possibilities: some sort of cost multiplier to a standard ADS to
give
it HEL range potentials, or an (expensive) sensor suite attached to any
HEL
equipped vehichle that would allow using the main gun to target
aircraft/
high-VTOLs.

I'm assuming the to-hit procedure and damamge would not change, the
expense
of the HEL system would be soley for increased range. Optional: keep the
price of the HEL-ADS the same as standard ADS, but use HEL damage
procedures: red chits only.

Random thoughts late at night... take or discard as you will.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Jim 'Jiji' Foster / jfoster@kansas.net / Jiji @ AnimeMUCK / TIP #28

"That's the way we all begin," said Tom Platt. "The boys they make
believe
all the time till they've cheated 'emselves into bein' men, an' so till
they die--pretendin' and pretendin'."
    Rudyard Kipling, _Captains Courageous_