Thread: Re: Mass Drivers and high energy weapons in Space was: [Traveller_TN

1 combat hex would need to be ~211km (distanced traveled for 1G in 3
minutes)

On Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 10:13 AM, Antony Farrell <>wrote:

> **
>
>
> Mass Drivers****
>
> Looking in FF&S Mass Drivers can have a velocity of 3000ms-1 at TL8 or 3km
> per seconds, double that at the peak of TL11. So in 3 minutes a TL8 mass
> driver projectile (neglecting any vector imparted from the launcher) can
> cover 540 km in 3 minutes the TL11 one 1080km. In 30 minutes if you stayed
> with standard combat rounds it would cover 5400km at TL8 or 10800 for a
> TL11 one. So you could not really use these at standard combat scales. But
> with a 3 minute scale and smaller range hexes they might work.****
>
> ** **
>
> What size hex would you need for a 1 hex change for a 1G ship over a 3
> minute round?****
>
> ** **
>
> Plasma and Fusion Guns****
>
> These obviously don�t work in TNE at normal combat ranges. Even a reduced
> hex size and time frame looks to be a problem because in space the plasma
> would disperse almost instantly (there goes my Romulan/Aslan warbirds main
> weapon.****
>
> Sometime back though I thought that if you built them as a N- particle
> accelerator the rate of decay could effectively be reduced due to the
> plasma being effectively accelerated to relativistic speeds. Plasmas are
> electrically neutral but the electrons have all been stripped from the
> nucleus� so they could be accelerated separately and recombined just like
> the N-PAWS as they exit the weapon. ****
>
> ** **
>
> So possible add to construction sequence to N-PAWs they need a plasma
> source (I think FF&S2 had rules for this), the range modifier altered to
> reduce ranges � have to decide on a modifier but the high energy weapons
> should have the worst ranges of all the energy weapons. Perhaps a maximum
> range of 4 30,000km hexes in standard combat, less if you want a close
> combat universe with mass drivers etc.****
>
> ** **
>
> Antony****
>
>
>

--
If the world was fair then every bad thing that has ever happened to you
would have been deserved.

i think, going off the top of my head here again. The the speed limit on gauss / mass drivers wasn't a tech limitation but rather a real world issue with the rounds burning up in the atmo. Again thats just off the top of my noggin.

Derek Stanley
Sent from my iPhone...

On 2012-06-26, at 10:13, "Antony Farrell" <> wrote:

> Mass Drivers
>
> Looking in FF&S Mass Drivers can have a velocity of 3000ms-1 at TL8 or 3km per seconds, double that at the peak of TL11. So in 3 minutes a TL8 mass driver projectile (neglecting any vector imparted from the launcher) can cover 540 km in 3 minutes the TL11 one 1080km. In 30 minutes if you stayed with standard combat rounds it would cover 5400km at TL8 or 10800 for a TL11 one. So you could not really use these at standard combat scales. But with a 3 minute scale and smaller range hexes they might work.
>
>
>
> What size hex would you need for a 1 hex change for a 1G ship over a 3 minute round?
>
>

I recall reading something along the same lines regarding the testbed proto-type they were using ... but if in space that restriction would be removed, and if in atmosphere and using a warshot - tungsten-steel penetrator like a sabot round perhaps the question could be ... so it's turning into plasma in the next 20 miles, so what, because the question really is would it retain sufficient mass/cohesion to impact the target enough to take it out.
Expect they would have a way of dialing the power (velocity)  up or down depending on the combat environment.
Tim

>________________________________
From: DEREK STANLEY
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 12:46 PM
Subject: Re: Mass Drivers and high energy weapons in Space was: [Traveller_TNE] KKM experiment
>
>
>
> 
>
>i think, going off the top of my head here again. The the speed limit on gauss / mass drivers wasn't a tech limitation but rather a real world issue with the rounds burning up in the atmo. Again thats just off the top of my noggin. 
>
>Derek Stanley
>Sent from my iPhone...
>
>On 2012-06-26, at 10:13, "Antony Farrell" <> wrote:
>
>
> 
>>Mass Drivers
>>Looking in FF&S Mass Drivers can have a velocity of 3000ms-1 at TL8 or 3km per seconds, double that at the peak of TL11. So in 3 minutes a TL8 mass driver projectile (neglecting any vector imparted from the launcher) can cover 540 km in 3 minutes the TL11 one 1080km. In 30 minutes if you stayed with standard combat rounds it would cover 5400km at TL8 or 10800 for a TL11 one. So you could not really use these at standard combat scales. But with a 3 minute scale and smaller range hexes they might work.
>> 
>>What size hex would you need for a 1 hex change for a 1G ship over a 3 minute round?
>
>
>