Meson Gun Bays

[Garnfellow]

Trying to understand why this option shows up in the "High Technology" chapter when the associated tech levels aren't actually all that high -- TL11. CT High Guard had meson gun bays, and several designs in MGT 2e HG use these, such as the Skimkish-class light carrier or the Antiama-class fleet carrier.

Thoughts?

[Condottiere]

It's unclear why the editorial policy was to place it there, unless there was some direction from they took from Tee Five.

In any case, for the Imperium setting, probably all political entities that have the requisite industrial base can manufacture them, especially as the spinal mount version would be more complex.

[AndrewW]

Generally, the stuff in the High Technology chapter is stuff that isn't canon for the T5 version of the Third Imperium setting.

[Sigtrygg]

Except the meson bays turn up in the Third Imperium sample ships later in the book.

And T5 has yet to give us rules for anything above ACS, meson bays will have to be an option in BCS to preserve compatibility with extant canon - something that MWM says he is bound by.

[Garnfellow]

Generally, the stuff in the High Technology chapter is stuff that isn't canon for the T5 version of the Third Imperium setting.

That's what I assumed -- which is why I had largely skipped it. I figured it would be masers, quantum torpedoes, disintegrator spinals, etc.

Why are meson bays TL11, if meson spinals are canonically 12? And since they do the same damage, why would anyone use a spinal instead of a large meson gun bay?

[Annatar Giftbringer]

Generally, the stuff in the High Technology chapter is stuff that isn't canon for the T5 version of the Third Imperium setting.

That's what I assumed -- which is why I had largely skipped it. I figured it would be masers, quantum torpedoes, disintegrator spinals, etc.

Why are meson bays TL11, if meson spinals are canonically 12? And since they do the same damage, why would anyone use a spinal instead of a large meson gun bay?

They don’t do the same damage. Take a look at High Guard, p.28. Spinals have their own destructive modifier, and it’s quite a bit higher than the regular one

[Sigtrygg]

I think the point is that in the OTU the TL of introduction for meson guns is TL11 but for bays it is 13..

[Annatar Giftbringer]

Well that’s probably a miniaturization issue, I’d guess.

You see a similar thing with gauss weapons, where rifles are TL12 but pistols TL13, and the step from massive spinal mount to “small” bay scale might not be just the scale and destructiveness of the weapon but also the technology to build the components small enough to fit in a bay.

[Condottiere]

I believe the narrative has the Terrans employing Meson spinal mounts at technological level twelve.

One could make the effort to compare the previous editions as to the introductionary technological level of the bay variants.

[kronovan]

I'm new to MgT 2e and admittedly know next to nothing about Meson gun bays. Not to derail the thread, but I've been buiding some vehicles, including a bitotech walker, and have noticed that Meson Commincators cant be used with a bitotech chassis.
I'm sure it's something obvious and I"m not seeing it because I'm a n00b, but I'm wondering why they can't be fitted into biotech vehicles?