Thanks for your replies, and info.
I have HG, and have read/seen various stats over the years for different vessels, which is probably adding to my confusion.
I'm working on coming up with some home-brew rules for small ship battles, and was wondering about this.
It's a derivative of the hull damage/degradation rules, e.g. there's one point for the hull's surface (acts like very thin armor), and once pierced, more things happen.
1st extra hit once the hull is pierced results in a -2 for some systems, e.g. sensors, weapons fire control, etc., etc..
2nd hit results in moderate damage.
3rd hit results in major damage.
4th hit is catastrophic for that area, and results in damage to the next area underlying the hull.
Examples are:
1st hit = hull pierced, and a very slow air or fuel leak.
2nd hit (1st Extra Hit, after the hull is pierced) = minor air or fuel leak.
3rd hit (2nd Extra Hit) = moderate leak.
4th hit (3rd Extra Hit) = major leak.
5th+ hit (4th Extra Hit) = catastrophic leak/failure - hull breach or fuel tanks, exposing next underlying hull area to damage, e.g. structure, maneuver/PP/J-Drive, Quarters, Bridge, etc., etc..
Hits are tracked for various portions of the hull.
Armor doesn't count against internal hull spaces - assumed to be bolted/welded on externally, but does cost credits.
I was thinking of perhaps 1 Hull Armor Box for transports/merchants, either over the entire hull, or perhaps just critical areas, as desired.
2 Hull Armor Boxes for modified merchants, and light military ships - patrol and missile boats perhaps, as above.
3 Hull Armor Boxes for light naval vessels, e.g. Close Escorts and SDBs, etc..
More armor, as desired, for heavier vessels.
Of course, some may not have any armor at all (which is attacked first), before attacks against the hull plating, e.g. small craft of 50 tons or less.
Still up in the air on the Armor-1 for merchants, so may need to do a little playtesting on that.
Might eliminate one of the Extra Hit Levels too, since the 1st Hull Breach and Minor Damage from the 1st Extra Hit (actually the second hit on the same area seem redundant).
I'm also thinking of grouping hits from multiple weapons on the same weapons mount to either hit one area, or adjacent areas, and to do damage as a group, rather than randomizing hits all over the vessel, e.g. for a triple laser turret, if all beams hit (some could miss, I guess), the damage from them is on the same hull area. 1st hit is on the upper hull, so the second one may be in the same spot, and just do more deeper damage, or on another spot directly adjacent to it. Same goes for missile hits and other weapons too (multiple missile hits would be randomized by location, but damage would be to the same area of the hull for each hit).
Thoughts?