What's the range of starship missiles?

coombes

Mongoose
I'm looking at the rules for the maximum range of missiles/torpedoes in starship combat.

Traveller Core Rules 2022 says: if the missile hasn't reached its target after 10 rounds, it runs out of fuel and becomes inert.

High Guard 2022 says: The number of missiles in a salvo is halved every five full rounds of movement. This doesn't apply to long range missiles and torpedoes.

The way that the High Guard rule is written ("every five full rounds"), it seems like it is ignoring the original Traveller Core Rules - as "five full rounds of movement" will only occur once before all missiles go inert.

A 50% failure rate of missiles seems extremely high, and if the halving is done rounding down, it means that a single missile only works for five rounds of combat.

Am I interpreting these rules correctly? How do others handle missile range?
 
I'm looking at the rules for the maximum range of missiles/torpedoes in starship combat.

Traveller Core Rules 2022 says: if the missile hasn't reached its target after 10 rounds, it runs out of fuel and becomes inert.

High Guard 2022 says: The number of missiles in a salvo is halved every five full rounds of movement. This doesn't apply to long range missiles and torpedoes.

The way that the High Guard rule is written ("every five full rounds"), it seems like it is ignoring the original Traveller Core Rules - as "five full rounds of movement" will only occur once before all missiles go inert.

A 50% failure rate of missiles seems extremely high, and if the halving is done rounding down, it means that a single missile only works for five rounds of combat.

Am I interpreting these rules correctly? How do others handle missile range?
The CRB22 and HG24 rules apply under different conditions.

CRB22 rule: Applies because of limited fuel for beyond "distant" ranges. Thrust 10 missiles considered.
HG24: Applies when "huge" salvoes of missiles are in-flight. Thrust 6, 10, 12 and 15 considered.

I cannot find a specific definition for "huge" in either HG or CRB, but I doubt you could call a single missile a huge salvo.
 
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Since I can't customize the missile propulsion system, I just adjust doctrine.

As for a single missile, after five rounds, flip a coin.
 
The rules make no sense.

A missile's range is unlimited.

You launch it and do an initial burn to send it on its way. It can then coast until the heat death of the universe - ok dust impact and radiation degradation make that unlikely :)

Once its sensors or your sensor network tell it a target is nearby it burns towards the target.
 
The rules make no sense.

A missile's range is unlimited.

You launch it and do an initial burn to send it on its way. It can then coast until the heat death of the universe - ok dust impact and radiation degradation make that unlikely :)

Once its sensors or your sensor network tell it a target is nearby it burns towards the target.
Interestingly, the rules do say that a missile's range against a station or object which is unable to thrust - planet etc- is unlimited. It does not say that this works against ships that cannot maneuver, though it should say that. Because you just put the missile on a ballistic trajectory. These missiles should be easier to shoot down.

However, to make sense, you should be able to shoot at anything you can get a target lock on: the missiles boost toward the target, coast until they are close enough, thus conserving enough fuel for the final attack (if necessary), and then maneuver at max. Gs to impact the target. Missile sensors would be limited, so they might depend on those of the launching ship which limits their range and would make them more vulnerable to ECM. Or they could be smarter and thus more expensive.
 
A missile's range is unlimited.

You launch it and do an initial burn to send it on its way. It can then coast until the heat death of the universe - ok dust impact and radiation degradation make that unlikely :)
Are all starship encounters within 100D of planets? I haven't encountered a plot where being outside 100D mattered, and subsequently there were missiles launched. As soon as that limit is reached, then ships enter jump drive.
Anyway, point being, if gravity is in effect within 100D, then that would affect missile propulsion and flight trajectories too, when their fuel runs out.
 
Are all starship encounters within 100D of planets? I haven't encountered a plot where being outside 100D mattered, and subsequently there were missiles launched. As soon as that limit is reached, then ships enter jump drive.
Anyway, point being, if gravity is in effect within 100D, then that would affect missile propulsion and flight trajectories too, when their fuel runs out.

Not necessarily. Interplanetary flights beyond 100D from either source or destination will certainly be a thing as long as the transit time is less than a week.
 
Are all starship encounters within 100D of planets? I haven't encountered a plot where being outside 100D mattered, and subsequently there were missiles launched. As soon as that limit is reached, then ships enter jump drive.
Anyway, point being, if gravity is in effect within 100D, then that would affect missile propulsion and flight trajectories too, when their fuel runs out.
They are coasting at their initial velocity...
 
Not necessarily. Interplanetary flights beyond 100D from either source or destination will certainly be a thing as long as the transit time is less than a week.
Even if the transit time is rather longer than a week, as long as fuel is so bulky and expensive. Sublight vessels can carry quite a bit more cargo than even Jump 1 ships. And jump ships are either unlikely to make in system runs at all (waste of capabilities) or want to avoid the wear on the jump drives and substantial fuel costs just to save a few days if they do.

IRL, cargo shippers go slower to save on fuel charges pretty much all the time, because few of their customers are willing to pay higher prices for the extra speed, plus the bottleneck is port slots more often than not.
 
Are all starship encounters within 100D of planets? I haven't encountered a plot where being outside 100D mattered, and subsequently there were missiles launched. As soon as that limit is reached, then ships enter jump drive.
Anyway, point being, if gravity is in effect within 100D, then that would affect missile propulsion and flight trajectories too, when their fuel runs out.
Gravity is in affect everywhere, even beyond 100D. The targeting computer should take care of those calculations when targeting. Also, the Difficulty should be much, much higher to detect incoming missiles that are not firing their engines. I actually designed "stealth missiles" so they are even harder to detect to be used by ships with stealth.
 
However, if the missile or torpedo is making an attack after it has expended its fuel, any point defence gains DM+2 against it.


What ya know? There is life after death.

Or, maybe it's purgatory.
 
However, if the missile or torpedo is making an attack after it has expended its fuel, any point defence gains DM+2 against it.


What ya know? There is life after death.

Or, maybe it's purgatory.
If we consider missiles alive in the first place. Does a missile have a soul? Does it perceive the universe only the the lens of the commands and targeting information it perceives, and does it aspire to more? Does it understand the basics of phenomenology, and if so would it take an interest in it?

The +2 quote is in reference to missiles that run out of fuel attacking installations that cannot maneuver - they are on a ballistic course and therefore it is easy to predict where they will be.
 
If we consider missiles alive in the first place. Does a missile have a soul? Does it perceive the universe only the the lens of the commands and targeting information it perceives, and does it aspire to more? Does it understand the basics of phenomenology, and if so would it take an interest in it?

The +2 quote is in reference to missiles that run out of fuel attacking installations that cannot maneuver - they are on a ballistic course and therefore it is easy to predict where they will be.
This is why you don't put TL-17+ brains in missiles. lol
 
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