Missle Storage

[Condottiere]

A rotating launcher or carousel would be interesting. Or a revolver. You could pick which missile gets fired from a menu.

A sixty ton shuttle could keep out of a Traveller missile's range, assuming it had 10 gee rated engines.

 

[SSWarlock]

A rotating launcher or carousel would be interesting. Or a revolver. You could pick which missile gets fired from a menu.

The "Darrians" supplement already has them.

Though the description in "Darrians" doesn't specifically call out the capability mentioned, it seems to be assumed even in the Core Book that the capability exists for launchers capable of fire multiple missiles simultaneously. I mean there's no limit as to what missiles can be loaded in bay launchers so why can't missile bays fire different kinds of missiles simultaneously? Just because the RAW don't say you can, doesn't mean you can't. Or do they and I'm just not remembering it?. Of course the same argument can be made for the opposing assumption.

 

[Condottiere]

I believe it's one missile per launcher per turn.

The selection I had in mind was the capability to pick the missile payload most suitable to the tactical situation the pilot is facing.

 

[SSWarlock]

Small bays can fire 12 missiles in one salvo while large bays can fire 24. As long as they're all getting the same targeting info, why not have the salvo include missiles of different capabilities?

 

[Condottiere]

But there's a difference between pre-loaded and selecting from a menu. Do the launchers draw from a common magazine, how selective can you be for the warhead?

With six minutes intervals, setting up a mixed barrage doesn't seem a problem to organize, the set up of the weapon system, if it allows this mixing.

 

[locarno24]

If a missile is capable of higher acceleration than its target, no amount of maneuvering on the part of the target can dodge the missile, unless the range is long enough that the missile's endurance is exhausted before it reaches the target. If a missile can conserve fuel by switching off its engine and restarting it after a period of coasting, it can extend its endurance, making dodging even more difficult for a target.

Not necessarily true. I agree that it will definitely get an attack in at you, but last minute 'jinks' can throw off something ordinarily capable of turning faster than you can (see evasive manouvres used to avoid current air-to-air missiles). Equally, your own velocity can work against you; slowing yourself right down to turn around takes a huge amount of time. Finally, no amount of acceleration may be sufficient to overcome a velocity advantage that already exists - which is why it's damn difficult to engage a ship mid-transit between two worlds; a couple of minutes at 10G is meaningless compared to the velocity previously imparted by a day or more at 6G.

Also, the problem is 'cone of vision' - once you've 'missed', a missile will also have lost sight of its target with its forward-facing sensors; a missile 'coming around for another pass' is rather more difficult in reality; wider-arc sensors and improved intelligence for predictive 'blind' manouvres is what the increased cost of smart missiles represents.


Personally I've no problem with multiple turrets, or even a single bay, flinging mixed warhead types. There are a few warheads which seem designed for this; mixing sandcutter warheads into a barrage stops a ship using sandcasters for defensive fire for that turn but don't do damage themselves, for example. Seeding a few in a volley makes sense.

 

[Beastttt]

I's say flight profiles
Laser heads are a standoff weapons
Nukes need to spread out a bit so as to not fratracide other nukes
Kenetic Kill can swarm

A rotating launcher or carousel would be interesting. Or a revolver. You could pick which missile gets fired from a menu.

The "Darrians" supplement already has them.

Though the description in "Darrians" doesn't specifically call out the capability mentioned, it seems to be assumed even in the Core Book that the capability exists for launchers capable of fire multiple missiles simultaneously. I mean there's no limit as to what missiles can be loaded in bay launchers so why can't missile bays fire different kinds of missiles simultaneously? Just because the RAW don't say you can, doesn't mean you can't. Or do they and I'm just not remembering it?. Of course the same argument can be made for the opposing assumption.

 

[locarno24]

Laser heads are standoff weapons but they make up for their increased resiliance to point defence by vulnerability to defensive sand clouds and/or reflec layered armour.

Flight profiles aren't too much of a problem as there's plenty of opportunity for a salvo to spread out a bit - remember that with a six minute turn even a dozen missiles hitting "at once" in traveller space combat terms could have up to thirty seconds between them.