Armour bypass weapon + kinetic shields

1 posts ยท Feb 3 2001

From: Andrew Ayres <ftshipcreator@b...>

Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 20:11:25 +1100

Subject: RE: Armour bypass weapon + kinetic shields

Okay heres an idea for not so much a weapon, but a system, and further down a
shield. Sorry folks but this is a little bit of an essay:

Structural Analyzer:~ The PSB would be the system scans the ship for defects
and damage in armour and hull. The system would then link to a fire control
and be able to fire say, 1 or 2 standard beams, or maybe link to any number of
FCS, but only fire one per FCS. The Ship would require Superior Sensors as
these would be the only ones powerful enough to give the required scan
resolution and detail. Effect: System penetrates 1 layer of armour. Rest of
damage is done straight to ship. If no armour, then say allow reroll on 5 as
well as 6 to show for hitting a weak spot, only on initial hit, all rerolls
are as normal.

Mass: Fixed number as just a superior, specialised computer. Say 5
Cost: Should be expensive due to level of quality required -> cost 25

also as it is just a computer, and is deep inside the ship, not near the
surface (uses sup.sensors and normal FCSs as surface parts) could put in core
systems.

My suggestion for kinetic shields would be that (PSB) the ship uses
essentially very strong screens, and flows a dense layer of particles over the
field. The shields would have a set strength over the entire ship (any
reduction is balanced out by flow of particles), and as a weapon hits, all
damage is done to the shield until it fails, at which point one of two things
happen:
*For weapons like beams and K-guns, the remain damage goes straight to
armour and ship as normal *For torpedoes and missiles, no damage flows on as
it would be assumed the missile explodes on the shield, which would be a
distance away from the ship such that the explosion would have no effect. Draw
backs would have to be that, when using sensor rules, all rolls suffer a
penalty due to the magnetic and particle fields, and that if the ship fires
then the arc through which the shot passed would be 'leaky' letting
through half beam and k-gun damage (round down) and for missiles, etc,
roll
1D6 4-6 missile gets through. PSB would be that the ship has to emit a
disturbance cone in the field to allow shots to pass through. The system could
be turned off and on, negating all effects while off, but would take 1 turn to
put up and down (PSB=to allow for retrieval and redeployment of particles, and
for the charging and discharging of magnetic field generators). During this 1
turn, the effects would be halved, essentially in a 'leaky' state.

The shields would have a set strength dependent on ship size and shield rating
and as damage is suffered the shield reduces (particles being dislodged and
lost from the field), but could regenerate say, 5 or 10% each turn dependent
on rating by emiting more particles.

When damaged the system would become 'leaky' on first hit, disabled on second
and each repair takes it up a level.

Possible option is overcharging it, doubling strength and recharge, but for
each turn running overcharged it risks damage, 6 on a D6 first turn, 5-6
on second, etc. Damage reduces it by outlined 'damage level' however if run
for six turns, system is completely fried, and if already damaged, can't be
repaired until it returns to a space dock.

2 rating levels: 1st: mass = 10% TMF cost = 10 times mass strength = 50% mass
regen = 5% per turn 2nd = 15% TMF
cost = 15/20 times mass
strength = 75-100% mass
regen = 10% per turn

I'm not that flash at working out costs and actual mechanics, but as a general
guide

Possible Background: ESU first started developing in early war against Kra'vak
at the realisation their ships which largely use screens are very vulnerable.
The other sides quickly caught on through espionage, and so all sides got it
around the same time (ESU first as they had a head start, NSL last as they are
least qualified in Sceens and magnetic fields, and with armour and stong ships
didn't see the urgency at first)

A variation along the lines of the pinpoint shield is that the same concepts
as outlined above, but only one arc coverage per generator, but can be moved
around 2 arcs per turn to which ever arc player desires (arc along which the
SDN is =))