Sandcasters.... How do they WORK?

[Supplement Four]

I'm reading through (again) Striker, and as others have pointed out, the description in that CT work sure seems to point to sandcasters being point-defense weapons that do not fire cannisters or "sand" missles but a puff of sand at incoming laser fire.

Striker refers to them (I know this has been mentioned a few times in this thread) as being used as giant "shotguns".

Conversely, LKW himself told me personally, in e-mail, from a question I had asked him about this (a couple of years ago) that Marc had originally envisioned sandcasters as depth-charge like devices.

Striker seems to go against that grain (pardon the pun).

So...

Question.

If sandcasters are point-defense weapons, how could that work?

I can almost buy that the ship can swing the weapon turret at an incoming (speed of light) laser beam and fire a puff of sand at it before it hits the ship.

What's really hard to swallow, though, is that the turret, if not already bearing, will have to be brought to bear on the incoming laser fire.

Does this mean that pilots would always keep the ship's turrest facing the enemy, no matter what?

What if the ship is trying to get away from the enemy, and the turret doesn't face aft?

Hmmm.....

 

[Supplement Four]

I'm reading through (again) Striker, and as others have pointed out, the description in that CT work sure seems to point to sandcasters being point-defense weapons that do not fire cannisters or "sand" missles but a puff of sand at incoming laser fire.

Striker refers to them (I know this has been mentioned a few times in this thread) as being used as giant "shotguns".

Conversely, LKW himself told me personally, in e-mail, from a question I had asked him about this (a couple of years ago) that Marc had originally envisioned sandcasters as depth-charge like devices.

Striker seems to go against that grain (pardon the pun).

So...

Question.

If sandcasters are point-defense weapons, how could that work?

I can almost buy that the ship can swing the weapon turret at an incoming (speed of light) laser beam and fire a puff of sand at it before it hits the ship.

What's really hard to swallow, though, is that the turret, if not already bearing, will have to be brought to bear on the incoming laser fire.

Does this mean that pilots would always keep the ship's turrest facing the enemy, no matter what?

What if the ship is trying to get away from the enemy, and the turret doesn't face aft?

Hmmm.....

 

[Whipsnade]

WJP,

You're right. It's a quandry with no clear answers. Striker implies a huge shotgun, LBB:2, Mayday, and HG2 all point towards the 'depth charge' model. I guess everyone has to choose what works best for them and their TU.

You questions regarding 'aiming' sand at incoming lasers raises tough questions too, questions there are no real answers for.

DGP wrote about a targeted ship recieving warning of an impending laser strike thanks to an 'aiming' or 'ranging' pulse. The pulse arrived early enough for the gunners to deploy sand to good effect. We all know the 'precursor' pulse isn't a good answer because a precursor pulse isn't going to be used. However, we really don't have another answer. Again, each of us needs to come up with something that works in our TU.

IMTU gunners deploy sand in response to threats and not against actual strikes. That means they use more sand than canon would have them use. It's not a perfect answer but it was one that fit my players' needs.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[Whipsnade]

WJP,

You're right. It's a quandry with no clear answers. Striker implies a huge shotgun, LBB:2, Mayday, and HG2 all point towards the 'depth charge' model. I guess everyone has to choose what works best for them and their TU.

You questions regarding 'aiming' sand at incoming lasers raises tough questions too, questions there are no real answers for.

DGP wrote about a targeted ship recieving warning of an impending laser strike thanks to an 'aiming' or 'ranging' pulse. The pulse arrived early enough for the gunners to deploy sand to good effect. We all know the 'precursor' pulse isn't a good answer because a precursor pulse isn't going to be used. However, we really don't have another answer. Again, each of us needs to come up with something that works in our TU.

IMTU gunners deploy sand in response to threats and not against actual strikes. That means they use more sand than canon would have them use. It's not a perfect answer but it was one that fit my players' needs.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[mike wightman]

How about if the sand cannister is both a shotgun and a depth charge?

1. I'm with Bill, no ranging laser, but you do know from your sensors that a threat is out there so you could launch a sand cannister between yourself and the perceived threat before any incoming fire is received. Providing you don't accelerate the sand will protect you until the enemy maneuvers to get a shot in around it.

2. The cannister itself is an electromagnetically launched round that can be set to detonate at any range, you could even use it as a solid slug (no idea why you'd want to though).

3.When it detonates it spreads a cone of material ahead of it. In a ground combat environment it is set to detonate almost immediately after launch, hence the giant shotgun effect.

 

[mike wightman]

How about if the sand cannister is both a shotgun and a depth charge?

1. I'm with Bill, no ranging laser, but you do know from your sensors that a threat is out there so you could launch a sand cannister between yourself and the perceived threat before any incoming fire is received. Providing you don't accelerate the sand will protect you until the enemy maneuvers to get a shot in around it.

2. The cannister itself is an electromagnetically launched round that can be set to detonate at any range, you could even use it as a solid slug (no idea why you'd want to though).

3.When it detonates it spreads a cone of material ahead of it. In a ground combat environment it is set to detonate almost immediately after launch, hence the giant shotgun effect.

 

[Cymew]

Since Sandcasters are a defensive weapon, and available as soon as mankind builds starships, I consider it to be a very low-tech and failsafe device.

IMTU I think of it as a torpedo, filled with sand. The regular kind. Kind of handy that the Special Supplement 3 apparantly gives a bit of support for that idea.

Now, I'd say that firing a topedo with sand, and letting it explode at a pre-set distance or guided by the Gunner brings in a lot of possibility to tune the procedure for TL development, but I'd keep the core idea intact. Maybe better triggers or better guiding systems for the torpedo can make it more precise, or aimed. I dislike the idea of having such a basic defensive weapon depend of gravitics or repulsors or such hi-tech that just break down at the critical moment.

I'd keep it simple, safe and preferable immune to jamming and other tricks.

I guess that a torpedo detonated in the vicinity of a boogey works very much like a depth charge, or as a remote controlled shotgun.

Targeting lasers and things that makes you begin to think about relativity, like what light is faster than the other, is something I'd just silently avoid.

 

[Cymew]

Since Sandcasters are a defensive weapon, and available as soon as mankind builds starships, I consider it to be a very low-tech and failsafe device.

IMTU I think of it as a torpedo, filled with sand. The regular kind. Kind of handy that the Special Supplement 3 apparantly gives a bit of support for that idea.

Now, I'd say that firing a topedo with sand, and letting it explode at a pre-set distance or guided by the Gunner brings in a lot of possibility to tune the procedure for TL development, but I'd keep the core idea intact. Maybe better triggers or better guiding systems for the torpedo can make it more precise, or aimed. I dislike the idea of having such a basic defensive weapon depend of gravitics or repulsors or such hi-tech that just break down at the critical moment.

I'd keep it simple, safe and preferable immune to jamming and other tricks.

I guess that a torpedo detonated in the vicinity of a boogey works very much like a depth charge, or as a remote controlled shotgun.

Targeting lasers and things that makes you begin to think about relativity, like what light is faster than the other, is something I'd just silently avoid.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
How about if the sand cannister is both a shotgun and a depth charge?

I like it, Sig. I can still use my "fine tuning" of the sand cloud, and keep the cloud between the ship and enemy, using the ship's hull grid focusing.

Cool.

That's my new definition in my game.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
How about if the sand cannister is both a shotgun and a depth charge?

I like it, Sig. I can still use my "fine tuning" of the sand cloud, and keep the cloud between the ship and enemy, using the ship's hull grid focusing.

Cool.

That's my new definition in my game.

 

[mike wightman]

I'm toying with introducing one or two new defensive systems into MTU.

The first would be a sand "screen generator", like those in Traveller2300, the second is a "plasma armour" generator.

Before dismissing the latter, have a look at this link.

 

[mike wightman]

I'm toying with introducing one or two new defensive systems into MTU.

The first would be a sand "screen generator", like those in Traveller2300, the second is a "plasma armour" generator.

Before dismissing the latter, have a look at this link.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
I'm toying with introducing one or two new defensive systems into MTU.

The first would be a sand "screen generator", like those in Traveller2300, the second is a "plasma armour" generator.

Before dismissing the latter, have a look at this link.

I'm not going to dismiss it, Sig. I think it's cool as snail snot on a blistery winter's day.

Very cool article on plasma shields.

Thought...This plasma article would be a good explanation for how the jump bubble operates.

L-Hyd is used in this process (which may explain why so much L-Hyd is used for jump), turned into a plasma state and used as the ship's shield while in J-Space.

I really dig it.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
I'm toying with introducing one or two new defensive systems into MTU.

The first would be a sand "screen generator", like those in Traveller2300, the second is a "plasma armour" generator.

Before dismissing the latter, have a look at this link.

I'm not going to dismiss it, Sig. I think it's cool as snail snot on a blistery winter's day.

Very cool article on plasma shields.

Thought...This plasma article would be a good explanation for how the jump bubble operates.

L-Hyd is used in this process (which may explain why so much L-Hyd is used for jump), turned into a plasma state and used as the ship's shield while in J-Space.

I really dig it.