I have a query (and some concerns) over the missile and torpedo bays in Traveller's ship construction system.
Do they have any internal magazines? Or is that whole 50 D-Tons taken up just by launch machinery?
If the latter, this really doesn't make any sense and renders them pointless through sheer inefficiency.
I suspect they have some form if internal magazine, this would be the most sensible, as in missile launchers most of the bulk is made up of the missiles themselves.
I have also noted that the Torpedo Barbette does contain internal ammo space, as does the Railgun Barbette and Railgun Bay. Yet no mention is made of the internal ammo space of the Torpedo Bay, nor the Missile Bay.
If one were to extrapolate the internal ammo space of the Torpedo Bay by comparison to the railgun weapons, they would assume the bay contained 20 torpedoes. Whilst the barbette may be able to get away with all its dispacement being the two torpedoes, I have always envisioned the torpedo barbette as being nothing more than a double-barrel launcher with two up the pipe and no further internal storage. I doubt the torpedo bay can get away with such a simple system.
The rules need clarification, and I propose the following:
Missile and Torpedo bays have an internal magazine comprising 60% of the displacement (at base TL). This would make the torpedo bay's internal magazine hold 12 torpedoes, or 4 salvos. The missile bay's internal storage would contain 360 missiles, or 30 salvos. With this, the bays would no longer seem mostly dead space, and even with the displacement savings from higher TL construction the ammo inside would not exceed the actual size of the hardpoint (as can happen with the torpedo barbette). While this may seem space-inefficient compared to external ammo storage, there needs to be some price to pay for the reloading and targeting machinery.
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On another note, I had a question regarding particle beams in standard turrets. In the errata for High Guard, it is stated that only one particle beam may be fitted in a turret, and it must be a triple turret. Does the particle beam take up all three turret slots? The information given does not make that clear.
Do they have any internal magazines? Or is that whole 50 D-Tons taken up just by launch machinery?
If the latter, this really doesn't make any sense and renders them pointless through sheer inefficiency.
I suspect they have some form if internal magazine, this would be the most sensible, as in missile launchers most of the bulk is made up of the missiles themselves.
I have also noted that the Torpedo Barbette does contain internal ammo space, as does the Railgun Barbette and Railgun Bay. Yet no mention is made of the internal ammo space of the Torpedo Bay, nor the Missile Bay.
If one were to extrapolate the internal ammo space of the Torpedo Bay by comparison to the railgun weapons, they would assume the bay contained 20 torpedoes. Whilst the barbette may be able to get away with all its dispacement being the two torpedoes, I have always envisioned the torpedo barbette as being nothing more than a double-barrel launcher with two up the pipe and no further internal storage. I doubt the torpedo bay can get away with such a simple system.
The rules need clarification, and I propose the following:
Missile and Torpedo bays have an internal magazine comprising 60% of the displacement (at base TL). This would make the torpedo bay's internal magazine hold 12 torpedoes, or 4 salvos. The missile bay's internal storage would contain 360 missiles, or 30 salvos. With this, the bays would no longer seem mostly dead space, and even with the displacement savings from higher TL construction the ammo inside would not exceed the actual size of the hardpoint (as can happen with the torpedo barbette). While this may seem space-inefficient compared to external ammo storage, there needs to be some price to pay for the reloading and targeting machinery.
***
On another note, I had a question regarding particle beams in standard turrets. In the errata for High Guard, it is stated that only one particle beam may be fitted in a turret, and it must be a triple turret. Does the particle beam take up all three turret slots? The information given does not make that clear.
