basic ship combat help

[c_osborne]

I have a situation set up in a T20 game with some PCs in a small ship with a black globe and a USP2 particle accelerator. They are approaching an older model SDB from a distance of about 10,000,000km, hoping to take it out.

The base range on a particle accelerator is 30,000km.

So I assume they could attack at;
30,000km with no modifier
45,000 with -2 modifier (and -1 die damage)
75,000 with -4 modifier (and -2 die damage which effectively nullifies the attack)

So since it is a USP2, it is limited to 45,000km.

At close range it does 2d12 + 1d10radiation
At short range it does 1d12 + no radiation
It is not effective beyond that range.

So their best bet is to head in, and turn on the black globe to hide until they are close. Then turn it off and open up at close range.

Am I missing anything here? I'm not very experienced with the ship combat side of things, and could really use some pointers so I don't screw this up.

Thanks,

Chad

 

[mike wightman]

Hmm, I see the problem.

The weapon ranges in the weapon table on page 272 don't use the rules given on page 154.

I think this one has been discussed a few times and IIRC your understanding of the range bands and their effect is correct.

 

[c_osborne]

Thanks Sigg. I guess I'll run with that for now and see how it works out.

Chad

 

[BetterThanLife]

The base range is 30,000KM. I use the range bands so they work at 30,000KM, 60,000KM, 90,000KM, etc. This appears to be the actual intention.

Hunter recently clarified the damage for radiation weapons. A factor 2 PA is 2D12 + 2D10 radiation damage. Hunter also recently clarified radiation damage as non-SI damage. If it penetrates armor and dampers then it rolls on the internal damage table but doesn't actually reduce SI.

I also reduce damage for range the same as armor. So at 60,000-90,000KM that would be 1D12(The higher of the two) + 1D10 (Again the higher of the two dice.) radiation. at 90,000-120,000km it is 1D12-1 (Again the higher of the two.)+ 1D10-1 radiation damage.

There is a definite contradiction in the charts, but with the range band of the Fusion turrets being so short and the spinals being so long I only use the chart for sensors and the range bands (As normally used for all the other weapons.) for weapons.

 

[mike wightman]

That's not a bad fix, use the rules on page 154 for sensors, and use the other system for weapon ranges.

 

[c_osborne]

I suppose that makes more sense than what's in the book, but how many range bands do you use for the ship's weapons? Thrown is 5, personal is 10, vehicle is 15. So I'm guessing 15 (or possibly 20 if you wish to extrapolate).

So if we go with 15, the max range is 450,000km. Your new chart would look like this, right?

0-30k:2d12+2d10
30k-60k:-2 to hit, 1d12+1d10 (roll both and keep highest, same applies below)
60k-90k:-4 to hit, 1d12-1+1d10-1
90k-120k:-6 to hit, 1d12-2+1d10-2
120k-150k:-8 to hit, 1d12-3+1d10-3
150k-180k:-10 to hit, 1d12-4+1d10-4
180k-210k:-12 to hit, 1d12-5+1d10-5
210k-240k:-14 to hit, 1d12-6+1d10-6
240k-270k:-16 to hit, 1d12-7+1d10-7
270k-300k:-18 to hit, 1d12-8+1d10-8
300k-330k:-20 to hit, 1d12-9+1d10-9
330k-360k:-22 to hit, 1d12-10+1d10-10
360k-390k:-24 to hit, 1d12-11+1d10-11
390k-420k:-26 to hit, 1d12-12+1d10-12 (no damage unless crit is rolled)
420k-450k:-28 to hit, 1d12-13+1d10-13 (no damage unless crit is rolled)

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Chad Osborne:
I suppose that makes more sense than what's in the book, but how many range bands do you use for the ship's weapons? Thrown is 5, personal is 10, vehicle is 15. So I'm guessing 15 (or possibly 20 if you wish to extrapolate).

So if we go with 15, the max range is 450,000km. Your new chart would look like this, right?

0-30k:2d12+2d10
30k-60k:-2 to hit, 1d12+1d10 (roll both and keep highest, same applies below)
60k-90k:-4 to hit, 1d12-1+1d10-1
90k-120k:-6 to hit, 1d12-2+1d10-2
120k-150k:-8 to hit, 1d12-3+1d10-3
150k-180k:-10 to hit, 1d12-4+1d10-4
180k-210k:-12 to hit, 1d12-5+1d10-5
210k-240k:-14 to hit, 1d12-6+1d10-6
240k-270k:-16 to hit, 1d12-7+1d10-7
270k-300k:-18 to hit, 1d12-8+1d10-8
300k-330k:-20 to hit, 1d12-9+1d10-9
330k-360k:-22 to hit, 1d12-10+1d10-10
360k-390k:-24 to hit, 1d12-11+1d10-11
390k-420k:-26 to hit, 1d12-12+1d10-12 (no damage unless crit is rolled)
420k-450k:-28 to hit, 1d12-13+1d10-13 (no damage unless crit is rolled)

Except that damage reduction due to distance, like vehicle size for a handgun, would not be ignored on a crit. I was not quite as clear as I meant to be, sorry. So this particular weapon would do no damage after 390K. Further you are going to run out of effective sensor range in most cases before you run out of weapon effective range. 15 bands is enough.