On 2/25/2018 9:28 PM, Richard Aiken
wrote:
It's an interesting idea, but one that would need development to
be integrated into the various designs. Nothing happens within
a vacuum, and while the offensive capability is substantial, I
can't see it being utilized without a similarly effective
defense being developed to counter it.
IIRC, the "similarly effective defense" was for the attacking
force to *also* tow large numbers of missile pods into battle,
where the heaviest initial broadside usually carred the day. In
the Honorverse, this returned the sides to relative parity in
effectiveness, since starships could achieve FTL speeds while in
real space (thus making towing a long chain of pods practical).
I'm quite familiar with the Honorverse and followed it for quite a
few books until it became an exercise of bigger, better, more,
seemingly only to outdo the book before.
In Traveller - due to the restrictions imposed by the jump
drive - arriving in-system with a large number of towed missile
pods is impossible for an attacking force. This would leave them
with the more traditional option of layered countermeasures.
Unfortunately, these rely upon sensitive sensors, especially of
the passive variety. If the first wave of the incoming massive
missile salvo is composed of high-yield nukes intended to scrag
the opposing sensors with EMP, those sensors aren't going to be
very effective as the salvo closes in. Add protective shrouds
over the sensor heads of the remaining missiles in the salvo -
timed to fall away after said EMP has gone by and also after the
missiles have flown through the worst of the defender's point
defense particle beams - and the defender's are looking at quite
a lot of damage.
You could still arrive with a large number of pods...they just
wouldn't be deployed. Stick them in a tender or bulk transport, and
when you arrive in system, then assign the pods to the various tow
ships.
While your argument may have validity if we were looking at this
from real world perspectives, much of your argument/tactic falls
apart if the game system doesn't model the effects you mention.
I just can't see these pods existing without some form of effective
countermeasure...like how Star Fleet Battles introduced the
transporter bomb so the Klingons could neuter Kzinti and Federation
drone swarms.
--
Kurt Feltenberger
xxxxxx@thepaw.org/xxxxxx@yahoo.com
“Before today, I was scared to live, after today, I'm scared I'm not living enough." - Me