Can you put a spinal mount on a 1000-ton ship?
- Thread starter Agrikk
- Start date
Gallowglacht
SOC-12
Probably just a bay used to "count as" a spinal mount like in the RC Aurora clipper design. Thats a small-ish ship between 650 and 2080 tons depending on configuration, is that what your thinking of?
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Are you sure you mean spinal mount and not bay? And what system are you designing this in. CT, MT and T20 have 1000tons as the smallest spinal mount, not counting anything else so it'd be impossible without house ruling in them. TNE might have had smaller, or they might be designable with FF&S. GURPS I haven't a clue.
Should be doable as a bay weapon though.
True for a movable bay, but small craft can "hard mount" one turret worth of weapons, so it is not too great a leap to imagine that a 100 dTon "bay weapon" could be "hard mounted" on a sub-1000 dTon ship.
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
In fact there are past canon examples of small ships with bay weapons. This was codified as an acceptable canon option in T20 where sub 1000ton ships may mount a single (small, 50ton) bay weapon at the sacrifice of half the ship's hardpoint total. There is no mention of it being a fixed fire weapon though. It makes some sense in a way but either should be doable.
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far-trader
SOC-14 10K
I've always figured that was wrong, the result of a typo/math error in the HG example. But it could be the example is correct and the language used before the example to explain it was imprecise.
T20 had a chance to clarify that but didn't. They kept the same language and example, then further muddied the rule by including a non-canon option that sticks to the letter of the language and ignores the example.
I figure if the designers can't be precise I get to choose either, or both
Or even make it up for myself, canon be damned
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GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
"Can you put a spinal mount on a 1000-ton ship?"
Depends on the edition of ship construction rules, and how tightly you interpret the weapon size categories.
Depends on the edition of ship construction rules, and how tightly you interpret the weapon size categories.
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
FWIW, when I first started figuring out ships, TOO many decades ago, I found 5000dT was the smallest ship that could mount a spinal weapon with any degree of comfort. That was LBB5, of course. 
pendragonman
Absent Friends Margrave
FWIW, when I first started figuring out ships, TOO many decades ago, I found 5000dT was the smallest ship that could mount a spinal weapon with any degree of comfort. That was LBB5, of course.
That is exactly my findings, too.
Basically if you want spinal weapons in ships of 1000dt or smaller you have to go with FF&S1. You can also have parallel mounts which are short versions mounted as the name suggests parallel to the spine of the vessel. In the TNE universe this was canon. Take a look at the armament of the TNE version of the Crysanthemum class DE which has a pair of 1,000Mj parallel NPAWS.
Scott Martin
SOC-13
Spinal Mounts on smaller ships
TNE and T4 allow spinal mounts on any ship, although these spinal mounts can be replicated in bay or turret mounted weapons on larger ships.
In these games systems, a spinal mount simply refers to the way a weapon is mounted, not to it's absolute size, so fighters often carry the equivalent to a turret mount in a spinal configuration.
Take a look at Antony Farrell's site here:
http://www.skaran.net/banners/equipment/craft/craft.html
for some examples
Scott Martin
TNE and T4 allow spinal mounts on any ship, although these spinal mounts can be replicated in bay or turret mounted weapons on larger ships.
In these games systems, a spinal mount simply refers to the way a weapon is mounted, not to it's absolute size, so fighters often carry the equivalent to a turret mount in a spinal configuration.
Take a look at Antony Farrell's site here:
http://www.skaran.net/banners/equipment/craft/craft.html
for some examples
Scott Martin
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
The A-10 is basically a plane with a spinal mount...
