Well I was completely wrong.
Battletech Welcome to the Jungle
- Thread starter Speaker4thesilent
- Start date
Doomsought
Well-known member
Capital scale weapons also have a massive AOE, with a blast radius around 300 meters. It doesn't translate well to aerospace combat though.
Bear Ribs
Well-known member
Er, no, they don't. The 150-ton light sub-capital laser does 1 capital, 10 regular damage. The 700-ton naval laser 35 does 3.5 capital, 35 regular damage.
Omnimercurial
Active member
Oof!
Better off grabbing Paired half ton lasers and 250 ton lasers than anything in between.....
The Unicorn
Well-known member
Remember there are also range, volume and heat issues to consider which change the calculation a bit. 3 (or 8) small lasers might do more damage than a single large laser while taking up less mass, but they also have only 20% of the range and take up more space.
Bear Ribs
Well-known member
There are a few other specific considerations, you can't mount the Naval 35 on a DropShip for... reasons* and the half-ton small laser has an extremely short range. At the bigger sizes, you start running out of space or fire control faster than you run out of tonnage so it can actually wind up more efficient to throw a few massively oversized weapons in than a huge number of tiny ones.
*Probably the same reasons tanks can't mount double heat sinks, they arbitrarily limit some types of unit to make others more viable.
Wargamer08
Well-known member
Are there any rules for the kind of ground mounted heavy weapon positions that are planned?
Doomsought
Well-known member
yes, construction is in Tactical Operations and combat rules are on strategic operations.
Speaker4thesilent
Crazed Deplorable
The Pinto is obviously hulled and drifting in an irregular orbit. In other words: “it’s dead, Jim!”
PsihoKekec
Swashbuckling Accountant
Some people don't really get the concept of somebody or something being dead. Especially in fiction.
The Unicorn
Well-known member
Which if BT was a more sane setting would make it an ideal foundation to build a space station on.
Bear Ribs
Well-known member
This is BattleTech. They can find a 'mech shot up two hundred years ago that's been immersed in a muddy river the whole time and get it working again. If a factory was nuked into glowing rubble during the succession wars sooner or later they'll still go and rebuild that factory in the exact same spot. Most of the WoB fleet were literally Star League and Succession War casualties that had been drifting in space for a couple of centuries but they found the wreckage and repaired it into working ships again. It's not that surprising people have trouble accepting that a ship remotely intact will stay dead.
That said at this point, the smartest thing to do might be to booby trap the bejesus out of the Pinto and throw up some fake scaffolding around it to make it look like it's under repair, then when Com* or Kurita comes to nab/destroy it they get a nice nuclear surprise.
Actually, I'd use it for one thing. A hidden launch/recovery platform for ASF. Repair one bay so it's airtight, and give it a fusion engine or two for power. Place some launch and recovery capability in it, and you've got a nice little rotation for your ASF to hide in.
Knowledgeispower
Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
Honestly I suspect that the Pinto is going to totally stripped of everything that could possibly be of material or R@D use and then scrapped
That
Don't even need it for ASF if you dont like the jury-rigged nature. Plant sensors on it as a remote platform. I'd recommend passives only.
I don't doubt. However, it's already an existing structure you dont have to lift out of Catechan's gravity well...just stabilize the orbit and orientation, if needed.
Don't even need it for ASF if you dont like the jury-rigged nature. Plant sensors on it as a remote platform. I'd recommend passives only.
Wargamer08
Well-known member
The issue with that is that it looks a lot like a Warship. That means it's going to get shot at like a Warship.
But if they are busy shooting that then they are not shooting something else that is more important. Especially if it has been stripped.
What @TJ10209 said, with the added caveat that, if you just stick to passive sensors, then there is no EM signal to indicate that it's a LIVE target.
Plus, it's another tool in your pocket for limited expense. Hard part is going to be setting up a tight beam, encrypted signal to get you the take from the sensors.