[FT] WotW

Ok, did we come to any conclusions about EMP weapons - or did we finally
agree to disagree?

(Suggestion from a friend of mine - just treat them as normal weapons,
ie. beams, missiles, etc. with EMP being the PSB - I'm not sure that
ones going to be popular :-)

so what is the 'Weapon of the Week' _this_ week? I noticed a discussion
on Needle Beams , so, I shall suggest - Needle-Beam like weapons.

These are:

Heavy Needle Beam (Noam Izenberg - on Midbar Skunkworks page)
Mass 5, Cost 15, one arc only. With one dedicated firecon/target, HNB's
act as two normal Needle beams, targeting the same system on the same
ship. If two sixes are rolled vs Main drive (or any other two-hit
system), it is totally destroyed Two sixes vs. other systems destroy the
target, cause 1 point of hull damage, and then reroll once as per normal
beams (skipping armour). With two dedicated firecons/target, HNBs can
fire as a single normal needle beam between 12 mu and 24 mu.

Sniper Gun (Me - Charles Taylor)
This is a hyper-velocity light K-gun with a very accurate targeting
system, designed to target individual systems on enemy ships. It is the
Kra'Vak equivalent of the Needle Beam, and, like that weapon, requires
that a fire control be dedicated to it use when it is fired.

A Sniper Gun functions in exactly like a needle beam, with one
exception, it can also function as a very light anti-shipping weapon. In
this fire mode, it does not require a dedicated fire control, but still
only has one fire arc. At a range of 0 - 12 mu it hits a roll of 5+,
while at 12 - 24 mu it hits on a roll of 6. It does one damage point,
and cannot target specific systems in this mode.

The MASS of a Sniper Gun is 2, and the COST is 8. It has 1 fire arc.

Alternatively, just use the statistics for a Needle Beam from FB1 but
with a different PSB.

Existing Comments: (Noam) I prefer the alternative, though the
anti-shipping addition might be OK with higher cost.
(Oerjan) The alternative seems like the best idea... particularly if
Needle beams get multi-arc options :-/

Phalon Needle Fire Control (Me again)
Phalon Ships may be allowed to configure their pulser batteries in a
special 'Needle mode' (pulser-N) before a battle. Pulsers so configured
require a specialized fire control, known as a 'Needle Fire Control' to
correctly function.

A Needle Fire Control requires 2 MASS, and has a COST of 8. A pulser-N
used in conjunction with a Needle Firecon will act in all respects as a
needle beam (see FB1, page 7). Note that one Needle Firecon can target
multiple pulser-N's, as long as they all target the same system.
Multiple Needle Firecons are needed to target multiple systems. However,
no normal firecons need to be allocated.

A pulser-N used without a needle firecon (but with a normal firecon) has
a range of 0-12 mu and inflicts 1 damage point on a roll of 5+ on 1d6
(no re-rolls).

A Needle Firecon will function as a normal firecon if used in
conjunction with any weapon other than a pulser-N.

Existing Comments: (Oerjan) OK. Or the Pulsers could simply be allowed
N tuning in addition to their current C, M and L ones.

(Charles) On second thoughts I think I'll go with Oerjan's suggestion -
however, I have some questions: should only 1-arc Pulsars be
configurable for Needle mode, if not, should a pulsar that is configured
for Needle mode be restricted to 1 fire arc (chosen from those of the
Pulsar), finally, can a Pulsar-N be used as a point defence system?

Sa'Va'Sku Needle Pod (T) (Me)

The Needle Pod is the Sa'Vasku's primary precision system-destroying
weapon.
Needle Pods require 3 power to fire, and consume 1 biomass. They
may be fired at any one system that falls within the fire arc of the pod
launcher, however, to use a Needle Pod, the Sa'Vasku ship must dedicate
1 cortex node to its use (cf.. needle beam firecon requirements). Needle
Pods are actually a refinement of Lance Pods (see FB2 p.23) that
sacrifice damage for accuracy.
Treat the attack by the Needle Pod exactly like a single attack by a
needle beam (that is, range is 12 mu, roll 1d6, on a 1-4 no damage is
scored, on a 5, 1 damage point is scored, while a 6 indicates that the
target system has been destroyed and 1 damage point is scored). Like
needle beams, Needle Pods ignore screens and armour/carapace.

For a guide while designing Sa'Va'Sku pod munitions, I did an analysis
of the Lance pod, and came to the conclusion that each pod attack with
a biomass 1, power 3 pod (i.e. standard) should be equivalent to a
single attack by a MASS 2-3 COST 6-9 weapon.

Sa'Va'Sku Needle Pod (G) (Nick Garbett)

Needle Pods require 3 power to fire, and consume 1 biomass. They may be
fired at any one system that falls within the fire arc of the pod
launcher.
A Needle Pod has a range of 36 mu, and attacks all ships within 6 mu.
For each attacked ship, roll 1 die: a 1-4 indicates no effect, a 5
indicates that 1 damage point is scored, while a roll of 6 indicates
that the target system has been destroyed and 1 damage point is scored.
All damage ignores screens and armour/carapace.

Comments: (Charles Taylor) - personally I'm not convinced by these, if
you must use them, I recommend treating them in a similar way to Burster
Pods (q.v.), except that any hit by PDS fire destroys the
pod.

Sa'Va'Sku Needle Pod (S) (Imre A. Szabo)

Needle Pods require 3 power to fire, and consume 1 biomass. They may be
fired at any one ship that falls within the fire arc of the pod
launcher.
If the target ship is within 0 - 6 mu of the firing ship, then two
systems may be targeted, while if the range is 6 - 12 mu, then one
system may be targeted. Roll 1 die for each system targeted, on a 1-3,
the target ship suffers one point of damage, while on a 4-6 the target
system is destroyed and the ship suffers one point of damage. All damage
ignores shields and armour/carapace.

Comments: (Charles Taylor) I don't really like the ability to target two
systems at once, alsp, if I'm reading it correctly, this weapon
automatically hits, and has a 50% chance (per system targeted) of
killing the target system!

Ok, that should keep us busy, unless anyone wished to continue
discussing EMP weapons :-)