On February 23, 2018, at 4:10 AM, Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 23Feb2018 1840, Cian Witherspoon wrote:
>> Honestly, most editions are short on the ground when it comes to
>> anti-missile defense. One note I made is that it's best to not use
>> this idea with the 2nd edition of the Mongoose version, as missiles
>> there are exceedingly powerful - they get DM+1 for every missile in
>> the salvo (including the first), deal 4d6 damage, and upon a
>> successful attack multiply the damage of the first missile by the
>> effect (total roll-8). Point defense is rather weak in that version as
>> well, but not as bad as the 1st edition. Actually defending against
>> the huge salvos that capitol ships can put out usually requires an
>> escort completely dedicated to point defense systems, which leave no
>> option for offensive capability.
>> I am working on actual countermissiles, which would be the most
>> effective option (and could maybe get their own pods, but the
>> targeting data upload would be interesting).
>MgT's insistence that 1) small ships can only be attacked effectively by
>small weapons, and 2) that missiles can only be attacked by
>point-defence fire and not while in transit makes massed missile fire,
>and massed missile fire by missile boats, insanely effective.
>--
>Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>
>Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief
>-----
Oh, it gets worse - they presume a single target model for PD and EW in 1e - gunners take out 1 missile per roll, and get DM-1 for very roll after the first, and the same for sensor Ops doing EW.
In 2e, it gets even worse considering the relative strength of missiles. You get one attempt at PD, which removes a gunners effect (total throw-8) in missiles, sandcasters do nothing against missiles, and every salvo can have only one EW attempt against per round, which of course removes the effect in missiles. Yeah, even with their specialised PD system (auto intercept a small number), their bad attempt at counter missiles (blow away lots of small craft! Or one missile, per missile), and the ability to add sensor ops, they don't make effective use of them.