Re: [FT] Coilguns

At 08:17 AM 3/14/99 -0500, you wrote:
>><< A Coilgun uses a series of electromagnetic coils to accelerate a
piece
>> of iron or steel down a tube.  It is similar, in both function and
>> effect, to a Railgun, but has no moving parts and is, overall, the
more
>> efficient design (at least according to what *I've* been reading). 
The
>> Coilgun fires a single very large projectile at very high speeds
(Yes,
>> the "Shotgun" approach makes a lot more sense.  This *looks* cooler,
>> though.), and is capable of doing a tremendous amount of damage to a
>> target. >>
>
>A) Why not just use a railgun?  It's the same thing, ie, an
>electromagnetically accelerated object to punch holes in ships. 
Exactly how
>it accelerates the object is just  the PSB (or Scientific Babble, at
this
>rate, getting past the Pseudo point).

Because it's an entirely different (and somewhat more spectacular, in my
humble opinion) weapon, and a new name seemed to be warrented in order
to
avoid confusion.  It was originally designed as a set of variant Railgun
rules, so Coilgun was an appropriate name.

>B) I'd assume the rods have some kind of terminal homing.  Otherwise
the
>chances of hitting anything as small as a ship--even if it's not
>maneuvering--are negligable, unless you assume a ridiculously short
range.

Short range is a pretty relative term in FT, isn't it?	There would have
to
be some sort of guidance if you wanted to hit anything at all, just as
with
the standard Railguns, but I didn't think that it needed any additional
rules or explication.  The important thing, in game terms at least, is
to
fire it in approximately the right direction.

John X Crimmins
johncrim@voicenet.com
  "...is one of the secret masters of the world: a librarian.
They control information.  Don't ever piss one off."
  --Spider Robinson, The Callahan Touch.