Subject: Starship stuff, a gun to the head
[] From: "Robert S. Dean" [email removed]
[] Subject: (2909) New Traveller )-8
[]
[] Are we going to be happy to be using a system where
[] an average character can take two average damage .50 caliber machine gun
[] bullets to the head without becoming unconscious?
Use a variant of 2300ad. Yes, you can be killed by a .22 shot to the head.
Makes combat very lethal and not quite as desireable.
Actually, for characters I usually fudged kill results by simply making them
do 10x the DPV (or 5, whichever is higher) in damage. This is usually enough
to knock out joe average, make the mesomorph sweat buckets, and kill any
weaker ones. However, a 2MW phasmagun to the head will leave little more than
a vapor trail.
Paul Dale notes:
[] In message (2918?) Burton says:
[]>Another problem is missiles. It takes a M-6 ship 1 turn to travel 6 hexes if
[]>starting from a standstill. Missiles launched said ship when many hexes away
[]>hit THAT SAME TURN. Ppbbtt!
[]
[] I've got the same gripe with missiles. Mayday had an almost reasonable system
[] for missiles (you had counters and they moved and could accelerate in a rather
[] limited fashion). The problems with having missiles as ships is that you can
[] arrange to defend against them multiple times (by not getting hit until a
[] later turn), which may seriously impair the effectiveness of missiles. I
[] think that was the agreement Bertil and I arrived at when we discussed this
[] topic.
Well, I have to admit to a heavy Japanese Animation influence on how missiles
will operate. I see them jigging and weaving all over the place, making them damned
tough to hit.
[]>With a 30 second turn (3 personal combat turns), the hexes are 4.5km across
[]>(so we'll fudge it to 5km).
[]
[] 5km is getting awfully small, how many ships can you stack into a hex?
[] A 1Mton battleship is a measly 150m diameter sphere so you could get lots
[] of them in, however a cyclinder of the same volume with a base area of
[] 10000m^2 (=1 hectare) is 1.35 km long (and the cross-section need not be
[] anything like that big). A cone/wedge configuration will be even worse.
[] If I was in one of those 'big' ships, I wouldn't desire another one inside
[] the same hex as I was in. [ I do know that ships of those sizes are not
Well, ships that big are on the line of Star Wars "Star Destroyers". Just
huge wedges. Presumably big ships like that don't close to "knife fighting"
range but have it out at some distance with spinal mounts, saving "lesser" weapons
for smaller cruisers and fighters. I admit, I like a more "Star Wars" feel to
my space combat.
[] really combat capable but they do serve as an example ]. Having 5km hexes is
[] also going to cause some havoc with ranges....how far can you see in space?
[] (a very large number of hexes). Active sensors are going to have some really
[] impressive ranges (0.1 light seconds is almost 30000km, 6000 hexes for a round
[] trip). This would tend to make having sensors pretty much a non-issue,
[] especially for the long range EMS ones.
I think the whole mess of sensor lockon in MT just slows things down. Save
a few headaches and assume ships with reasonable sensors can spot other ships,
UNLESS the target has some sort of ECM (EMM masking, Black Globe) top make it
tough.
Sensors are probably best used in the pre-combat and post-combat phases
(as stated in book 2, for detecting objects prior to combat).
[]>I really don't like the real movement very much when I'm playing a space-opera
[]>game. I may try to use a variant of the 2300ad system, where ships have a
[]>raw speed for each turn. Actually, I'd like to use some Star Fleet Battles
[]>Ideas as well. With such a system, you actually have to plot your movement
[]>so as to expose your best weapons (or to hide battle damage to the armor.
[]
[] Going towards SFB would make the ship design process much more interesting. You
[] suddenly have to allocate positions for all of your weapons and (I presume)
[] firing arcs (cones?) for them. This would add some details for die-hard board
[] gamers; while for the rest of us who really don't like lots of paperwork, it
What I meant in using SFB ideas is actualy to create some sort of ship layout
with check boxes for damage. Now, for larger ships this could get cumbersome
(although not as much with my new damage calculation), but it would allow you
to see your damage, weapons available and other information at a glance.
Those who don't want to go into that much detail can simply list it and use
and abstract system (batteries/batteries bearing).
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Now some new stuff. Who's the bonehead who figured that "mass equals power
consumption"? I don't care if your radio is the size of a chicklet or
as big as a house, you need X power to get a clear signal to Function(X) miles,
no matter how much mass you shuck off. Obviously, Radios, Radio Jammers
and Radar are the big criminals in this.
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The rules state "Turrets and Cupolas may be added to the hull, with no more
than a 40% increase in hull volume". As such I have decided to give the old
"1 hardpoint/100t" rule the heave-ho. What (you may say in horror) is this man
doing! Well, If you can design a laser with striker rules that can perform
JUST like a ship laser, and place a good number of them in a large vehicle,
it seems silly that a starship the same size can only have 3. Period.
Now, while powermongers may rub their hand in glee at the prospect of having
tones of weapons on their ships, have them keep in mind that Pirates and
Naval ships will be equally well armed. (This may give them a stroke -- a
400t corsair mounting 160 missile launchers would be a nightmare. God forbid
you meet a ship of the line with an attitude!)
Anyone out there seen "Gal Force", an animated movie from Japan? In this
movie, lasers are handeled like this:
//
//------------- To target ->
Vane -------> //-+-----------
//-++-----------
//-+++-----------
// ||||
################################################
######################## HULL ####################################################
The lasers are fixed in the hull, while movable vanes are used to reflect the
beams toward the target. For atmospheric reentry, the vanes are simply folded
down. "turret" hits simply blow the vane away. This has the advantage of
having all 30 beam lasers on one vane (thus explaining how a turret hit
knocks out the use of 30 lasers. Ships could be limited to the number or size
of vanes by their surface area (as stated for Solar Cells, square root of
interior volume). So your average Type-S could have 1 vane of 36 lasers,
2 vanes of 18, etc. Having the vanes up increases your reflected signature,
making you easier to detect (so most ships trying to be stealthy will remain
locked down until nearly at the target). Also, locked down lasers are protected
by hull armor. Thus ships might trade missile blows until they reach favorable
laser range, at which time they lock up and open fire.
Why do missiles need to be turreted? They have their own guidance. So
missile batteries take up 1-ton cupola's each.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't have COACC, but I do have striker. I figured out the data required for
rockets from striker and converted it to a usable form for starships. Yes,
you too can build the challenger. If anyone wants this data, just ask.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Handling large numbers:
I plan to handle lasers BASED SLIGHTLY on the HG ratings. Lasers (on a vane)
are arranged in an array. These arrays are somewhat dictated by the battery
ratings given. Let me elucidate...
As stated: 1 Beam laser (factor 1), 2 Beam Lasers (factor 2), 3 Beam Lasers
(factor 3), 6 beam lasers (factor 4), etc. Ignore TL modifiers for factor
(improved lasers have better penetration, not better to-hit numbers).
Since the base number is 1, having 2 lasers is a +1 to hit, 3 a +2, and 6 a +3.
Having multiple banks multiplies the single bank rating. Thus 2 banks are x2,
3 banks are x3, and 6 banks are x4. When figuring the bonus, the larger number
is used for the add and the smaller is used for the multiplier.
Say a ship has a 3x6 laser array. The 6 provides a +3 modifier, while the 3
multiplies it by 3, giving +9 to hit with this array.
In combat, for every +2 over the required number an extra laser hit takes place,
up to the limit of the array. Thus, a really hot gunner could square the array
and get nearly all to hit, while an unskilled one is depending on the shear
volume of laser beams to get at least a few hits.
Particle beams, energy weapons, missiles, etc use the same system, except that
missiles, being independantly guided, get an extra impact for every +1 over
the required number. The inital gunner skill indicates a better lock-on.
Sandcasters calculate a defense DM that is used against laser targeting and
missile lock on.
Again, comments are welcome.
-- Burton