I'm a bit on the fence about this, and can't recall how CT (and/or for that matter, later variants of the Traveller rules handle it) deals with weapons fire, in and around small spacecraft, for boarding actions, or when they're out on the tarmac, and a skirmish breaks out (thinking small arms fire here).
In the real world, we obviously know that weapons fire is very detrimental, and in many/most cases, catastrophic, if it happens to hit one or more sensitive parts on a passenger jet, Learjet, or other small air or spacecraft.
Air marshals are presumably armed with special rounds to bring down the bad guys/women, but that are less likely to penetrate the fuselage and cause hull depressurization. They're also no doubt, very skilled in hitting their targets at close range, so that their rounds don't penetrate into cockpits, damaging or destroying the controls, and/or aircrew. I suspect they're also told not to fire through windows, etc., etc., that also might cause major issues.
Of course, in the movies, this is a non-issue in many cases, since the craft we're dealing with are larger, and they're using lasers/blasters which can be played off as being of less danger to hulls than very fast moving projectiles might be.
Ultra-realism suggests that any and all (or at least most) weapons fire in and around small spacecraft, and even some larger ones - 100 tons and less, to 400+ tons or so, may be adversely impacted (pun intended) by high speed projectiles flying about, either outside, or inside these vessels.
Granted, perhaps some specialized rounds, and/or weaponry might be ignored, in such battles, if specifically tailored for that, but I imagine most might pose a real danger, if the spacecraft are not at least minimally armored.
So, how does CT, and/or other variants handle this, or do you just ignore it in most cases?
I can see that it might add some interest to games, but in a wild, firefight between rival factions, or individuals, it might also be overly burdensome to track where the various rounds impact each turn, if there's a battle at the local spaceport, before liftoff.
Perhaps, some way of tracking only catastrophic damage for the occasional lucky/unlucky shot?
Obviously, in a lot of cases, hull integrity would likely be compromised, resulting in atmospheric pressure loss, unless the vessels' hull has some way to automatically repair that.
A slow or moderate loss of fuel, and/or engine power might make for an interesting follow-up scenario, for those trying to escape from a fight at a spaceport, but then find their vessel is damaged, so they need to make a short hop, and emergency or crash-landing to deal with the damage, and repairs.
Thoughts?
In the real world, we obviously know that weapons fire is very detrimental, and in many/most cases, catastrophic, if it happens to hit one or more sensitive parts on a passenger jet, Learjet, or other small air or spacecraft.
Air marshals are presumably armed with special rounds to bring down the bad guys/women, but that are less likely to penetrate the fuselage and cause hull depressurization. They're also no doubt, very skilled in hitting their targets at close range, so that their rounds don't penetrate into cockpits, damaging or destroying the controls, and/or aircrew. I suspect they're also told not to fire through windows, etc., etc., that also might cause major issues.
Of course, in the movies, this is a non-issue in many cases, since the craft we're dealing with are larger, and they're using lasers/blasters which can be played off as being of less danger to hulls than very fast moving projectiles might be.
Ultra-realism suggests that any and all (or at least most) weapons fire in and around small spacecraft, and even some larger ones - 100 tons and less, to 400+ tons or so, may be adversely impacted (pun intended) by high speed projectiles flying about, either outside, or inside these vessels.
Granted, perhaps some specialized rounds, and/or weaponry might be ignored, in such battles, if specifically tailored for that, but I imagine most might pose a real danger, if the spacecraft are not at least minimally armored.
So, how does CT, and/or other variants handle this, or do you just ignore it in most cases?
I can see that it might add some interest to games, but in a wild, firefight between rival factions, or individuals, it might also be overly burdensome to track where the various rounds impact each turn, if there's a battle at the local spaceport, before liftoff.
Perhaps, some way of tracking only catastrophic damage for the occasional lucky/unlucky shot?
Obviously, in a lot of cases, hull integrity would likely be compromised, resulting in atmospheric pressure loss, unless the vessels' hull has some way to automatically repair that.
A slow or moderate loss of fuel, and/or engine power might make for an interesting follow-up scenario, for those trying to escape from a fight at a spaceport, but then find their vessel is damaged, so they need to make a short hop, and emergency or crash-landing to deal with the damage, and repairs.
Thoughts?
