SV: Gunboats in FT...

2 posts ยท Nov 22 1997 to Nov 22 1997

From: Oerjan Ohlson <oerjan.ohlson@t...>

Date: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 01:36:23 +0100

Subject: SV: Gunboats in FT...

> Mike Viking wrote:

> New system: Gunboat

Hm... Lessee:
2 close range dice worth of submunitions = 2/3 MASS
Weak fighter beam                                 ~ 1/4 MASS ?
Anti-fighter turret                                    ~ 1/4 MASS ?

So, roughly 1.2 MASS is used by weapons, while the rest is engines. The
anti-fighter turret and main beam together almost equal the capabilities
of an Attack fighter.

C'mon - unless you have LOTS of gunboats (or your enemy lacks point
defence), no squadron will survive 6 attack rounds!

Why do I get the feeling that this is inspired by Weber's "In Death Ground"?
<VBG>

Regards,

From: Oerjan Ohlson <oerjan.ohlson@t...>

Date: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 01:38:54 +0100

Subject: SV: Gunboats in FT...

> Brian wrote:

> If they are mass 2 they should be covered by the standard rules

Yes, it could (at least under the FT2 design rules) - 1 C battery, 1
point
defence and 1 Sub-munition pack <g> Remember, the GB sub-packs are only
1/3
the size of a starship's since they only roll 1 die each at 6 mu; so the
Corvette would actually be heavier armed than the GBs.

> I would counter-propose the following:
This
> hits on 4+ and does 1d6/2 (round up) damage (ignore screens). Gunboats

Hm... comparing a heavy torpedo fighter to this GB2:

Fighter: GB2: Speed: 12 10 Torp shots: 1 3
Damage/shot:       D6                        D6/2
Average *DAF dice needed to kill: 2 3 Average C dice needed to kill: 3 1.5
Cost/squadron:      50                         18

Both have the same anti-fighter capabilities, and seem roughly equal in
other respects (I wouldn't expect the GBs to last very long if the enemy
has C batts...). The GBs are very, _very_ cheap, though; they cost less
than a standard fighter squadron!

Regards,