New Manty ship ideas.

Rakhmamort wrote:not really... i said replace 2 of the existing 4 launchers. LAC missiles aren't that effective against SD armor anyway but ETorps are (granted there are no sidewalls). LACs attacking undamaged SDs using underpowered missiles from long range is not what I would call an intelligent use of force which means whether you have your current 4 launchers or just 2, you'd be getting a lot of LACs swapped out of space.

As for being energy hogs, why keep using the graser if you have a chance to deliver far more damage with ETorps? Use the graser if the sidewalls are still up, send in as much ETorps when you find a target with sidewalls down. Judicious use of the weapon systems on hand.

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add the fact that missiles are costly. ETorps = price of launchers. With the amount of hardware that's going to be built, cutting some costs would be one point in favor of putting ETorps in some LACs to replace some of their launchers.

Whitecold wrote:

Rakhmamort wrote:not really... i said replace 2 of the existing 4 launchers. LAC missiles aren't that effective against SD armor anyway but ETorps are (granted there are no sidewalls). LACs attacking undamaged SDs using underpowered missiles from long range is not what I would call an intelligent use of force which means whether you have your current 4 launchers or just 2, you'd be getting a lot of LACs swapped out of space.

As for being energy hogs, why keep using the graser if you have a chance to deliver far more damage with ETorps? Use the graser if the sidewalls are still up, send in as much ETorps when you find a target with sidewalls down. Judicious use of the weapon systems on hand.

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add the fact that missiles are costly. ETorps = price of launchers. With the amount of hardware that's going to be built, cutting some costs would be one point in favor of putting ETorps in some LACs to replace some of their launchers.

Do you seriously propose to squeeze an E-torp launcher and a graser into the same LAC? A shrike is designed around its single mount, and once you put powerplant and impellers in, the hull is more or less filled.
If you want etorps, you'd need specialized LAC's, which generates a special version of a unity which is already specialized, and is probably entirely useless against the enemy.
Even if you could squeeze a torpsystem in by removing the missiles, why would you do this? The ferret was designed because shrikes have too little long range firepower, so why try to reduce it by introducing an ultra short range, and very situational weapon in, that does nothing it can't already do?

Rakhmamort wrote:not really... i said replace 2 of the existing 4 launchers. LAC missiles aren't that effective against SD armor anyway but ETorps are (granted there are no sidewalls). LACs attacking undamaged SDs using underpowered missiles from long range is not what I would call an intelligent use of force which means whether you have your current 4 launchers or just 2, you'd be getting a lot of LACs swapped out of space.

Whitecold wrote:It still has mass, which means lower accel rates, and e-torps need a direct connection to the fusion reactor the Shrike doesn't have. I hope you don't propose mounting that on the outside too...

Grashtel wrote:

Rakhmamort wrote:not really... i said replace 2 of the existing 4 launchers. LAC missiles aren't that effective against SD armor anyway but ETorps are (granted there are no sidewalls). LACs attacking undamaged SDs using underpowered missiles from long range is not what I would call an intelligent use of force which means whether you have your current 4 launchers or just 2, you'd be getting a lot of LACs swapped out of space.

Attacking undamaged SDs with LACs at all is not an intelligent use of force and will suffer huge losses no matter what weapons are mounted on them, replacing weapons that are generally useful with ones that are useless under most circumstances doesn't improve matters even if LACs are able to fire them.

Rakhmamort wrote:

Whitecold wrote:It still has mass, which means lower accel rates, and e-torps need a direct connection to the fusion reactor the Shrike doesn't have. I hope you don't propose mounting that on the outside too...

if you are going to insist that etorps are directly formed from the plasma in the fusion bottle, then putting it on a LAC is much better than putting it on a real warship (which is what they did in OBS). Hit a LAC with anything and it's practically destroyed. Hit a ship with plasma conduits going thru areas inside the ship and the escaping plasma is going to gut your warship, more damage than the enemy inflicted on it.

if you can save space/mass with the replacement of missile armaments, then you can put in a bigger reactor. get more power. unless you are going to claim that GA techs and scientists will never be able to improve their tech anymore, then by all means, i'll bow to your superior wisdom.

Rakhmamort wrote:
huh? i don't get it. you agree that sending LACs against intact SDs is not an intelligent tactic. so does it not follow that you send them in against damaged SDs? damaged SD = damaged/no sidewalls, damaged nodes/low maneuverability, damaged sensors. all of which gives LACs the chance to get firing angles that would make use of ETorps possible if not devastatingly efficient?

The ETorps are going to improve the LACs damage potential in the environment they were designed to get into. In knife fighting range of damaged enemy ships. Ships with little or no sidewalls. Ships that can't maneuver fast enough to use their wedges/sidewalls to protect themselves.

Theemile wrote:

Rakhmamort wrote:if you are going to insist that etorps are directly formed from the plasma in the fusion bottle, then putting it on a LAC is much better than putting it on a real warship (which is what they did in OBS). Hit a LAC with anything and it's practically destroyed. Hit a ship with plasma conduits going thru areas inside the ship and the escaping plasma is going to gut your warship, more damage than the enemy inflicted on it.

if you can save space/mass with the replacement of missile armaments, then you can put in a bigger reactor. get more power. unless you are going to claim that GA techs and scientists will never be able to improve their tech anymore, then by all means, i'll bow to your superior wisdom.

You are forgetting, Shrikes do not have Fusion bottles, but fission piles. There is no plasma to run the E-Torp from in the first place.