RE: New Weapon

Here's my comparison of equal mass (4), single arc heavy weapons.

		"Phased Array"			
>Range	Avg. Damage	   B3-1:	1/2 PT-1:  Target area: Factor
>0-6 MU    0.8			2.4		2.92		18.8
in^2
1
>6-12		  1.33			2.4		2.34	       
56.5
3
>12-18		1.6			1.6		1.76	       
94.2
5
>18-24		1.6			1.6		1.16
131.9			7
>24-30		1.33			0.8		0.58
169.6			9
> 30-36 	0.8			0.8		   -
207.345     11

* target area is the pie slice section for that damage range.

>Range	Avg. Damage	   B3-1:	1/2 PT-1:  
			Factored
>0-6 MU    0.8			2.4		2.92		
>6-12		   4			   7.2		7		
  
>12-18		8			   9		8.8		
>18-24		11.2			11.2		8.1		
>24-30		12			   7.2		6.4		
>30-36	8.8		8.8	   -		

Damage/Area of attack factor:
PA-1: 44.8
B3-1: 45.8
PT-1: 33.2 (Ignore screens)

Looks to me like the PA balances quite well at mass 4. It's increased
med-long range damage makes up tactically for it's fractionally lower
statistics.

Here's a PSB for it. Call it a Far-Focus Beam Array (FFBA). It's
composed of
multiple emitters that focus beam more efficently at long ranges. You
get
more power, but less focus close in. It'd be perfect for minis with
pylons
or struts (UN heavies, IF crescent ships, NI's Jericho BC etc...

Noam