From: Charles Taylor <charles.taylor@c...>
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 19:06:56 GMT
Subject: [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.