So while we don't know yet the capabilities (in MT2 terms) of the Zhodani ships in their order of battle from the 5th Frontier War book recently released - the capabilities of most of the Imperium ships are already contained in the High Guard books.
One thing is clear that Imperium capital ships have hung their combat capabilities on the Meson Spinal mount weapon - all 3 dreadnaughts and most frontline battleships and cruisers are built around a Meson Spinal mount - the only exception being Element class cruisers and the Azhanti Lightning class cruisers sporting a particle spinal mount. However only a few ships utilize Meson bay weapons.
1/ When considering the capabilities of the Meson Spinal mount I'm not clear what has directed the Imperium forces to choose this strategic path. While I recognize that Meson weapons detonate inside the target and bypass all armor on the target, the Meson weapons are subject to disruption by Meson screens (which are either overpoweringly effective if their effect is subtracted before a multiplier, or next to pointless mounted in the single digit fashion as they are for all the ships in HG if the effect is subtracted after the multiplier). Given the lack of Meson Bays and the choice by Imperium starship designers to mount so few screens one has to assume that the screens are individually powerful (although the rules for individual ship combat and fleet combat seem to disagree).
2/ The next consideration, is the range, Meson Spinal mounts have a max range of Long, while particle beam weapons have a max range of Very Long - meaning that against an opponent that can set the range, the main weapons of the fleet are neutered, and the opponent can snipe from outside their range. Yes many Imperium ships mount missiles and particle beam weapons in secondary mounts, so there will be some return fire - but not with the main weapon that over 10% volume of the ship and 90% of the weapon power has been designed for.
3/ The only way to overcome a target with an operational Meson Screens is to either:
a/ Overwhelm with multiple Meson attacks (with the lack of Meson Bays this will take attacks by many ships)
b/ Reduce the targets ship power so as not to be able to operate the shield (given the importance of the shield any Ion damage would have to reduce the ship to 0 power before any defender would choose to de-power their shields) - there is however a distinct lack of any Imperium ship with mounted Ion weapons, although Ion missiles and Torps could be used.
c/ Reduce the effectiveness of the targets crew through losses (Radiation losses seem to be the most effective here), such that the "Angle Screens" reaction is ineffective (effect 0 or lower), such that the spinal mound destroys the target through extensive hull damage, and resulting critical system loss. A roll of 9+ is needed for a Meson screen to remove damage from an incoming attack, and no ship computer software improves the effect of screens, thus assuming a skill of 3 and an ability of 9+, a roll of 4 or less will result in the Meson weapon causing full damage (roughly 1 in 6 attacks)
4/ A single hit by a Meson Spinal mount against an undefended ship will be devastating - like for like weapons hitting an undefended ship will probably destroy nearly 2/3rs of the hull and cause multitudes of critical hits - rendering the ship combat ineffective. Thus ones best crews will be assigned to man the Meson Screens and the Spinal mount.
Anyone else made any other considerations on the effectiveness of Imperium capital ships - do any other assumptions built into the MG2 rules cause other fleet strategies/tactics to differ from earlier versions of the rules?
Thoughts?
CJ
One thing is clear that Imperium capital ships have hung their combat capabilities on the Meson Spinal mount weapon - all 3 dreadnaughts and most frontline battleships and cruisers are built around a Meson Spinal mount - the only exception being Element class cruisers and the Azhanti Lightning class cruisers sporting a particle spinal mount. However only a few ships utilize Meson bay weapons.
1/ When considering the capabilities of the Meson Spinal mount I'm not clear what has directed the Imperium forces to choose this strategic path. While I recognize that Meson weapons detonate inside the target and bypass all armor on the target, the Meson weapons are subject to disruption by Meson screens (which are either overpoweringly effective if their effect is subtracted before a multiplier, or next to pointless mounted in the single digit fashion as they are for all the ships in HG if the effect is subtracted after the multiplier). Given the lack of Meson Bays and the choice by Imperium starship designers to mount so few screens one has to assume that the screens are individually powerful (although the rules for individual ship combat and fleet combat seem to disagree).
2/ The next consideration, is the range, Meson Spinal mounts have a max range of Long, while particle beam weapons have a max range of Very Long - meaning that against an opponent that can set the range, the main weapons of the fleet are neutered, and the opponent can snipe from outside their range. Yes many Imperium ships mount missiles and particle beam weapons in secondary mounts, so there will be some return fire - but not with the main weapon that over 10% volume of the ship and 90% of the weapon power has been designed for.
3/ The only way to overcome a target with an operational Meson Screens is to either:
a/ Overwhelm with multiple Meson attacks (with the lack of Meson Bays this will take attacks by many ships)
b/ Reduce the targets ship power so as not to be able to operate the shield (given the importance of the shield any Ion damage would have to reduce the ship to 0 power before any defender would choose to de-power their shields) - there is however a distinct lack of any Imperium ship with mounted Ion weapons, although Ion missiles and Torps could be used.
c/ Reduce the effectiveness of the targets crew through losses (Radiation losses seem to be the most effective here), such that the "Angle Screens" reaction is ineffective (effect 0 or lower), such that the spinal mound destroys the target through extensive hull damage, and resulting critical system loss. A roll of 9+ is needed for a Meson screen to remove damage from an incoming attack, and no ship computer software improves the effect of screens, thus assuming a skill of 3 and an ability of 9+, a roll of 4 or less will result in the Meson weapon causing full damage (roughly 1 in 6 attacks)
4/ A single hit by a Meson Spinal mount against an undefended ship will be devastating - like for like weapons hitting an undefended ship will probably destroy nearly 2/3rs of the hull and cause multitudes of critical hits - rendering the ship combat ineffective. Thus ones best crews will be assigned to man the Meson Screens and the Spinal mount.
Anyone else made any other considerations on the effectiveness of Imperium capital ships - do any other assumptions built into the MG2 rules cause other fleet strategies/tactics to differ from earlier versions of the rules?
Thoughts?
CJ
