Modification of beam weapons

Hi Guys,

Here are some ideas worth thinking about:

Note: I caculate the mass of beams without arcs, and then add the mass per arc
in latter. It works easier on my spreadsheet.

Class 1 Beams to Replace PDAF's If you replace PDAF's with class 1 beams, you
can then change the mass of class 1 beams to 0.75 plus 0.25 per arc, and the
mass of class 2 beams to 1.5 plus 0.5 per arc. Class 1 beams will have to be
assigned offensive or deffensive roll in the orders phase. This is done by
placing a O or D by each class 1 beam. They can still fire at other targets
types, but at reduced value, give the target the benifit of one level higher
shields.

Multiple Beam Weapon Turrets and Banks: If you like the idea of each beam
representing a single weapon (I know this is hersey), then mulitple weapon
mounts make sense for some genres such as Starblazers, SFB, Battlestar
Galatica, etc. The first beam of a mount costs
full mass, each additional beam costs 1/2 the mass.  Each arc, including
the first one, cost the same mass as normal for the number of beams. But the
points cost is mass x (3 + 1 per each additional beam).  A double class
3 mount is designated 33. Only one threshold check is made for the entire
mount, they all pass or fail.

Examples.

Weapons:    Number:    Mass:	Arcs:	 Mass Per Arc:	  Points
Multiplier: Total Mass: Total Points Cost: Class 3 2 3 3 1 3 12 36 Class 33 1
4.5 3 2 4 10.5 42

Class 3 3 3 3 1 3 18 54 Class 333 1 6 3 3 5 15 75

Class 3 4 3 3 1 3 24 72 Class 3333 1 7.5 3 4 6 19.5 117

As you can see, their is a small mass savings, but you pay for it in points.
Also, mounts of greater then 3 are not efficient because the points cost is
too great. This is intentional.

Most of you guys will probably hate these ideas, but somebody out there might
find them useful.