Re: [FT] WotW #12

In message <000701c12750$7b77cbc0$1e0aa8c0@hqmknt04enu>
	  "Chris DeBoe" <LASERLIGHT@QUIXNET.NET> wrote:

>    For WotW 12, unless someone else else vociferously disagrees, I'd
like to
> think about alternate ammo for Hu'Man railguns.  We start by assuming
the
> basic round works exactly the same as for KV K-guns (except they have
"Made
> in Alarish" labels).	Now, it's easy to miss with a K gun, so if I
were a HM
> engineer, I'd put a guidance package on it, or have it orient and fire
on
> the target at closest approach (eg bomb-pumped laser), or just put out
> multiple smaller rounds instead of one large one.

It doesn't say anywhere that the Kra'Vak _don't_ do this - IIRC there
was some discussion of 'shotgun' rounds for K-guns in the playtest for
FB2.

IIRC Paul Radford proposed 'incendiary' rounds.
> 
>   If I were an AE engineer, I'd also think about antimatter or fission
> rounds (the latter would hit the target hard enough to collapse the
round
> and make a critical mass)--but that might be a tiny bit excessive.
> 
> Comment?
>
Well - as the KV have been doing these for a lot longer than humans - I
think they get 'first call' on any Kinetic Weapon tech :-)

My recommendation is first, I think we need some more details, write up
the systems & send them to Noam so he can put them in the archive.

Then we can have a WotW discussion of them.

My personal preference for WotW #12 discussion is 'Alternative Dice
Beams', ie.

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Heavy Beam  [Alan Brain] (GZG-L, 9 March 2001) Heavy Beams cost and mass
the
 same as normal beams. A Heavy beam rolls 1 less die than a normal beam
at every
 range. So a class 3 heavy beam rolls 2 dice at 12MU, and 1 die at up to
24 MU.
 Hits by a heavy beam do 4,3,2,1,0,0 points of damage (i.e., a roll of a
 6 does 4 pts, and a re-roll, a roll of 5 does 3 points, and so on).
 Re-rolls also do 4,3,2,1,0,0 points, not counting screens, with scores
 of 6 causing further re-rolls as do normal beams.
 Screens are particularly effective vs Heavy beams. Subtract the screen
 rating from the damage of each die. So a Heavy  Beam that scored a 4,
 which would normally be 2 hits, would only do 1 against a target with
 screen 1, and would do no damage against a target with screen 2.
 PSB:
 These fire far fewer bursts, so have a smaller chance of hitting, and
 thus have a lesser effective range. However, they have much larger
 capacitors, so when they hit, they really hit. They are no more
 effective than normal beams vs screened ships, less so vs heavily
 screened ones, but against unscreened ships they are rather more
 deadly. Usually Heavy beams are found as limited-arc "Spinal Mounts".
 Those mounted on UN vessels came as a nasty surprise to the KraVak
 during the Siege of Earth, matching the firepower of the larger K-guns.
 Playbalance, Game aspects. The most cost-effective Heavy Beams are
those
 of Class 4 and above, though some Class 3s are sometimes found. Class
2s
 are even rarer, and Class 1s cannot be constructed. This is a solution
 to the following problems/requirements: * It gives an incentive to have
 screens as opposed to nothing but lots of armour. But not such a huge
 one as to  disadvantage the NSL or KV unduly.

 * It gives us a spinal mount - just try making a Heavy Beam that can
hit
 at range 48 with anything more than a single arc!
 * It prevents "small boys" , the ones that won't have screens anyway,
 from carrying them vs their normal opponents, other small boys. So the
 current Frigate and destroyer designs still make sense.
 * We don't need another mass/cost chart - a Heavy Beam costs the same
as
 a normal one with the same arc, it's just  shorter ranged.
 * Finally, the same principle could be extended to a "Super Heavy
Beam",
 which does 5,4,3,2,1,0 but rolls 2 less dice, and so on. But these
would
 have to be at least of Class 6 to match the effectiveness of
 conventional beams.

========================================================================
========

H.E.T. 
 Laser (High Energy Throughput Laser)  [Bif Smith] (FT-List 28-Jan-01)
 Mass: Same as beam batteries (including arcs)
 Cost:: 4x MASS
 Range: 8 MU per class
 Damage: Die rolled -3, reroll on a six (i.e. 1 to 3 = miss, 4=1 dp, 5=2
 dp, 6=3 dp + reroll [use this system to avoid extra die rolls])
 Special: PDS Cl.1 L Bats-Same as Cl.1 beam batts
 Symbol: Same as a Beam batt, except with a L added in the icon.
 Notes: Shields have no effect due to the beam being non-charged,
 therefore not affected by the magnetic shielding used on human ships.
Is
 affected by Phalon vapour shields (diffused by the vapour droplets).
 Icon: 

Comments/Analysis:
 [Oerjan]
 - Average damage per die is 1.2 (including the rerolls).
 - Comparing 6 Mass of 3-arc weapons and assuming that the HET lasers do
 have the same dice per range band as beams:
 -  Avg. damage for 6 Mass of...
 Range:      L2-3     L3-3     P-torp     B2-3*    
Pulser-C-3*
 0-6              7.2         3.6        
2.91         4.8         9.6
 6-8              7.2         3.6        
2.33         4.8         9.6
 8-12            3.6         2.4        
2.33         4.8         9.6
 12-16          3.6         2.4        
1.75         2.4         0
 16-18          0             1.2        
1.75         2.4         0
 18-24          0             1.2        
1.17         2.4         0
 24-30          0            
0             0.58            0         0
 * The B2-3 and Pulser are of course degraded by screens.
 The L3 and P-torp have the same Mass and both ignore screens, which
 simplifies the comparison considerably. The P-torp inflicts less damage
 at most ranges, but has longer range (and also better armour
 penetration, though not enough better to matter much).
 The L2 looks very nasty up close. Not quite as nasty as Pulser-Cs
 (unless the target has level-2 screens and is within  8mu), but with
 somewhat longer range to compensate (and also somewhat cheaper). Can't
 say I'm too hot at introducing yet another way to read a damage die,
but
 it looks OK balance-wise. Making them cost 4xMass might be a bit
 conservative, but not much - and a little too expensive is always
better
 than too cheap! What effect does vapour shrouds have? Another -2 to the
 dice?

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Charles