Fixed weapons in the Solomani Module.

[infojunky]

In a discussion FB a gent indicated that he thought the fixed weapons per hardpoint where in addition to mounted Turrets. In a broad reading that point of view makes sense. It also makes a bunch of ships from FASA and GW work better.

 

[Condottiere]

Either/or.

I haven't found a loophole.

 

[Condottiere]

Though with smallcraft, each firmpoint is treated separately, and only monoturrets are permitted, so if you hit thirty five tonnes plus, you can have one weapon system in a fixture, and another in a monoturret.

 

[infojunky]

I wasn’t clear but Book2 is the rules set.

 

[Spinward Scout]

I'd think a fixed mount would keep a turret from moving properly, unless it's attached to the side of the hardpoint.

 

[boomslang]

Fixed mounts are intended to be a culture-specific space- and crew-saving hack the Solomani came up with, not a way to hang more than the usual B2 limit of weaponry on a given spacecraft hull. CT AM 6, page 42, paragraph 2, makes it clear that Condotierre's "either/or" is the intended interpretation.

In practice, I note that due to the To Hit DM penalty, it is generally counter-productive to mount lasers in fixed mounts (as written, the Type SF provided is broken in other ways, too), but missiles can work satisfactorily as a fixed-mount option -- if you are willing to only mount two of them per hardpoint -- and sandcasters also work pretty well in fixed mounts, especially with a dedicated loader or two to keep restocking them while the pilot or navi pulls the trigger.

 

[Condottiere]

1. Spacecraft design has evolved since fixed mounts was first introduced.

2. It's not well thought out, since if you can do it for turreted weapons, and spinal mounts, how about those inbetween?

3. Come to think of it, wouldn't spinal mount targetting be dependent on the pilot rather than the gunner, since neither accelerated particles nor mesons tend to curve in space, unless the target is behind a black hole?

4. You don't really need to place torpedo and missile launch tubes in a weapon bay, it's just for ease of modularization.

5. Fixed mounts point in one direction, and if it's a energy beam weapon, or a machine gun, the pilot manoeuvres the spacecraft into a position where the bore is lined up with the target.

6. You can also lock the turret in a preferred direction.

 

[whartung]

3. Come to think of it, wouldn't spinal mount targetting be dependent on the pilot rather than the gunner, since neither accelerated particles nor mesons tend to curve in space, unless the target is behind a black hole?

I've always assumed there's some kind of "beam bender" at the gun mouth that lets the beam pivot through some small arc of space to direct the fire more nimbly than trying to fly a 500K Ton dreadnought with a cross hair and a joystick to hit a dot 300K kilometers away.

 

[boomslang]

3. Come to think of it, wouldn't spinal mount targetting be dependent on the pilot rather than the gunner, since neither accelerated particles nor mesons tend to curve in space, unless the target is behind a black hole?

I would think that much like the shared tasking in a WWII-era bomber, the pilot is responsible for lining the ship up in the general direction of the target for the shot, but then momentarily hands-off the helm to the spinal gunnery director for final alignment and discharge. Then after the shot, the pilot quickly takes the helm back. This process is coordinated to the split-second so that it does not particularly compromise the ship's evasive maneuvering.

The final aiming is also probably accomplished by some firmware in the spinal gun itself that tweaks the strength of the magnetic coils asymmetrically for precision focus and targeting. All that happens in less than a millisecond immediately prior to the weapon actually firing.

Solomani fixed hardpoint mounts are probably employed in a similar, if smaller-scale process -- for lasers, at least. Hence the computer-size-dependent limitation and the slight loss of precision accuracy (since unlike spinals, lasers are merely point-and-shoot).

 

[Condottiere]

There is the railgun variant.

 

[infojunky]

1. Spacecraft design has evolved since fixed mounts was first introduced.

2. It's not well thought out, since if you can do it for turreted weapons, and spinal mounts, how about those inbetween?

3. Come to think of it, wouldn't spinal mount targetting be dependent on the pilot rather than the gunner, since neither accelerated particles nor mesons tend to curve in space, unless the target is behind a black hole?

that is a good point, in the past I have let players use their smallcraft skill for gunnery with fixed weapons.

4. You don't really need to place torpedo and missile launch tubes in a weapon bay, it's just for ease of modularization.

Honestly is was thinking about twisting the rules for the number of lanuch tubes for missiles, probes, sand and the like that can be installed.