Sorry for the length everybody. I want to post this to TML, and possibly put it into a CT-TNE conversion guide. Before I do that though, I'd really like you guys to flame it first. ToryArms 3-Pack System: Early in [XXXX- Suggestions?], the Imperial Navy put out a request for Proposal for a new modular weapons system. Several companies entered into final bidding in late XXXX+1, and the Navy accepted the ToryArms bid before years end. As the Navy expanded, and the Scout service accepted the 3-Pack, ToryArms had more and more trouble meeting Imperial orders. In desperate need of more units, and under extreme pressure from several megacorps, the Imperial Navy releases the 3-Pack specifications to the public. As more and more manufacturers started producing 4-Pack systems, they became cheaper and more common. As the years passed, the 3-Pack became the standard turret system built and installed on almost all ships. The basis for the system is the 3-Pack turret. The turret combines three modular bays and an appropriate Tech Level of workstation. The turret is then fitted with up to three modules. Most modules are completely self contained, except for power input. Self contained modules are available for lasers, missile launchers, and sandcasters. Both fusion and Plasma guns are available, but require an additional Ammunition module. During the rebellion, as the Imperial Navy splintered and production centers were bombed, the 3-Pack began to be replaced by a wide variety of weapons systems. With the collapse of the Imperium, the 3-Pack system has become even more rare. Without the high level of Imperial standardization, and Imperium wide mass production, the 3-Pack has been replaced by other designs. The 3-Pack system can still be obtained at many spaceports in the Regency, but availability outside of the Regency is unknown. Commonly Available 3-Pack Weapons Modules TL-9 3 Pack Missile Launcher 8.11tn Cr60960 .15MW Magazine for 3 missiles. Includes 300,000km Laser communicator for missile control. 3-Pack missiles: 1.6m3 1.6tn Cr4654 Rating: 16/10 Controlled missile TL-9 Warhead: C:42 B:64 PV: 209 TL-13 Warhead: C:53 B:73 PV: 227 TL-9 3-Pack Sandcaster 16tn .21MCr 1MW 6 Canisters, each 1D6x5 at Cr400 TL-13 3-Pack Sandcaster 16tn .28MCr 1MW 11 Canisters, each 2D5x5 at Cr800 TL-9 3-Pack Laser 26Mj 22.51tn 1.1426MCr .75MW 0:1/4 - 13 (as long range) If multiple laser packs are installed, their beam pointers can be replaced: * +.15MCr, 0:1/4 - 13 (at normal difficulty) TL-13 3-Pack Laser 31Mj X-Ray 18.06tn 1.0977MCr .86MW Range: 4/8/16/32 : 1/4 - 14 If multiple laser packs are installed, their beam pointers can be replaced: * Dual Lasers: +.8MCr, Range: 8/16/32/64 : 1/4 - 14 Triple Lasers: +1MCr, Range: 10/20/40/80 : 1/4 - 14 * Lasers of differing designs or Tech Level cannot share beam pointers. TL-12 3-Pack Plasma Gun 11.518tn 3.3MCr 0:10-109, includes a Point Defense computer and an EMS RF. Ammo Pack: * 400 rounds 90Mj CPC cartridges 86.4tn .9MCr TL-14 3-Pack Plasma Gun 12.26tn 4.123MCr 0:11-115, includes a Point Defense computer and an EMS RF. Ammo Pack: * 360 rounds 100Mj PPC cartridges 86.4tn .9MCr * Ammo packs are specific to each weapon. They cannot be shared between different Tech Level or power of weapon. TL-14 3-Pack Fusion Gun 12.26tn 16.57MCr 0:35-140, includes a Point Defense computer and an EMS RF. Ammo Pack: 360 rounds 150Mj PFC cartridges 86.4tn .432MCr 3-Pack Turret Base: The turret base fits into a standard 3 ton turret socket. The base includes a workstation for a gunner and support for 3 packages. The TL of the socket and it's workstation must be specified at purchase time. .4tn .006MCr first available at TL-9. Fire control limits allow mixing of different weapons only on ships with ten or less turrets. Fire control on larger installations of mixed turrets hampers effective weapons control. All weapons tasks become 2 levels more difficult on ships with mixed weapons turrets and more than 10 turrets. What do you guys think? It's also going to require impact missile rules. I've got an idea I'll throw out in a separate posting. I'll probably post this to TML in a few days, after everyone here has had a chance to look at it. Bob Piper -----8<----- The weapons system should probably predate the First Frontier War, and quite possibly the production problems in that war should be the impetus for making the specifications public. Kinetic energy of impact is much more important than any explosive effects at FF&S closing speeds. One way to estimate the penetration of a kinetic energy penetrator is to naively apply the FF&S rules for KEAP projectiles. According to FF&S, for KEAP rounds with a muzzle energy of 12Mj or more, the final penetration is: Pen = Mj * 4 where Mj is the energy in megajoules Mj = (Kg * Vel ^ 2) / 2000000 where Kg is the projectile mass in kilogramms Vel is the projectile velocity in meters per second For a completely unreasonable (far too light) missile, closing on a starship at 1 hex per turn (slowest possible BL speed), this works out to: Mj = (0.1 * 16667 ^ 2) / 2000000 = 13.89 Mj Pen = 13.89 * 4 = 55.56, which rounds to 56 Note that that's a 100-gram projectile at the slowest possible speed. Assuming (based on attempting to reverse-engineer your missile design) that you're using a 19.5cm HEAP warhead on the missile, the warhead masses 107.5kg. This results in a KEAP penetration of Pen=59725 (yes, I typed that right). Even taking conservative guesstimates of it's suitability (say, a "Special Ammunition" multiplier of 0.1 because it would be so poor at penetration), thiw works out to a penetration of 5972. Therefore, due to it's velocity, the warhead has 26 times the energy that's stored in it's chemical composition. It's actually quite reasonable to save a few credits, and lighten the missile considerably, by dispensing with the warhead. The average seeker unit masses a kilogram, and would have an unadjusted penetration of 556 (adjusted using the same 0.1 modifier above, it would have a pen of 56). The following table summarizes KEAP damage for a 1kg mass: BL Speed Energy Mj Pen Mod 1 Mod 2 1 139 556 56 56 2 556 2222 222 222 3 1250 5000 500 250 4 2222 8889 889 445 5 3472 13889 1389 695 6 5000 20001 2000 1000 7 6806 27223 2722 1361 8 8889 35556 3556 1778 9 11250 45002 4500 2250 10 13889 55558 5556 2778 To compute the kinetic energy and penetration of a KEAP warhead, multiply the mass (in Kg) by the numbers on the table. The Energy column gives the multiplier for total kinetic energy in Mj (millions of joules). The Pen column gives the penetration as figured for a 'normal' KEAP round, using the rules from FF&S. The "Mod 1" column gives the penetration figures for the first suggested modification (multiplying the penetration by 0.1 to account for the poor transfer of energy into armor penetration in collsions at these speeds). The "Mod 2" column gives the penetration figures for a second modification, intended primarily to reduce the very high damage figures produced even with "Mod 1" ("Mod 2" multiplies penetration by 0.05 for speeds over 2 BL hexes/turn). Using one of the options on the table above, a penetration figure can be computed for the warhead. Now that we know how to do damage to the target, how do we hit it? One easy solution would be to assume that hitting the target (as opposed to simply getting with X-ray detonation laser range of it) is some number of difficulty levels harder. In a (much) earlier article, which will be posted following this one, Bertil and I suggested the following: Levels How Close 0 Approx 1/2 a hex - Detonation Laser range 1 "Far Proximity" - close enough for Fusion Rocket and Nuke radiation 2 "Near Proximity" - 'shotgun'-type impact weapons and Nuke X-ray blast 3 Impact - physical contact Note that master fire directors can be used to negate some or all of these increased difficulties, based on the sensor range to the target. In addition to this, the missile has to track all of the target's course changes. Most of this is already handled by the BL movement system. In order to attempt an attack, the missile has to be in the same hex as it's target. Furthermore, in order to hit it's target, the missile must match any evasion the target attempts. If the target spends any accelleration on evasion during the last turn of the missile's flight, the missile must spend an equal number of G-Turns on evasion (matching courses). The ship's owning player announces the number of G-Turns spent on evasion; if the missile can't match it (because, for example, it would exceed it's drive's rating, or exhaust the missile's fuel supply), the target has broken the missile's target lock, and the missile continue's it's movement past the target. If the missile has fuel remaining, it may attempt to attack the same or a different target in a later turn. Guy "Wildstar" Garnett -----8<----- I like these rules. One note is that the speed should be closing speed. If the missile is tail chasing at 5 G's a ship doing 3 G's, it's closing speed would be 2 G's. If the missile was coming in head on, it would be 8 G's. Bob Piper / rpiper@wri.com