Viability of Sandcasters

[Ben W Bell]

Sancasters are argueably the most common defensive system in Traveller. But my question is would they really be practical in real terms.
The sandcaster deploys it's magnetic shrapnel to deflect incoming lasers and reduce their efficiency. Sounds reasonable enough.
This is fine when your ship is moving in a straight line, with no change in delta V, or it's acceleration changes are small. But once you start combat maneuvers, accelerate here, turn there, decellerate again, they sandcaster would not be able to keep up with the ship.
This is especially bad when the ship is undergoing high gee maneuvers at extreme velocities.
Any thoughts on this?

 

[Ben W Bell]

Another point. It is not possible to move a sandcaster though the laser. A laser, by it's very nature, travels at the speed of light. Therefore it's already hit you by the time you know it's coming so you cannot intercept it like that.
You can put them between the laser source and yourself which may 'accidentally' get the beam but the chances are low at shorter ranges.

 

[Gatsby]

I don't know if I am reading into things, but I always figured that High GUard was a reflection of WWII naval combat miniatures, with Sandcasters being equivalent to smokescreens.
I think that, when creating a new, original milieu in Science fiction, you want to have a clear concept of how you want to have fun and spin the look and 'feel' of things. I think Mr. Miller and Co. decided on several things - a need for bladed weapons and nobility; a need for a reasonable adherence to projected science; a cohesive unity of independent states with varying sociologies; other things that are, now, inherently 'Traveller'. I beleive HG is such a formulation.
Think of the concepts: Deck Armor instead of 'shields', Batteries of guns instead of 'phaser banks', Fuel concepts, High Guard, etc. 30 minute turns simulate shelling the opponent while increasing your Target Quality, IMHO. Fighters don't exist, except as small craft like PT boats.
So, in such an instance, you must think that Sandcasters stream out to hide ships or explode like AA shells.

IMHO

Gats'

 

[FlightCommanderSolitude]

I certainly see sandcasters as smoke-screen type defensive weapons. As for deploying them effectively while making maneuvers, I just imagine the sand "canisters" or whatever they are to be launched into the position the ship will be in at some future moment.

The effectiveness of the sandcaster is then dependent upon the accuracy of the computer's predictions of the locations of the various combatants'...no wonder the computers are so huge

-fcs

 

[AndreaV]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BenBell:
Sancasters are argueably the most common defensive system in Traveller. But my question is would they really be practical in real terms.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This question was brought up in the FF&S2 playtest. There are two factors.

1) Sandcasters use metallic sand and a magnetic field to slow its dispersal

2) A combat round represents a period of time (20 min in HG). It is assumed that its is extremely rare to score a first hit even with a laser and that the shots go close enough to be detected allowing the deployment of sand against subsiquent shots.

 

[Red Queen]

From a realistic standpoint, this begs the question, "How are you detecting these misses?" Shoving aside genre conventions for a moment, If you aren't getting hit by the laser light, in the vacuum of space, there's nothing to scatter the beam, and very little chance of knowing that you've actually been fired at.

 

[aramis]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Red Queen:


From a realistic standpoint, this begs the question, "How are you detecting these misses?" Shoving aside genre conventions for a moment, If you aren't getting hit by the laser light, in the vacuum of space, there's nothing to scatter the beam, and very little chance of knowing that you've actually been fired at.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

to Borrow from TNE: you aren't detecting the beam itself in a miss, but are detecting the ladar or radar contact for firecontrol on you; you then have a fraction of a second to scramble sand, or make other defensive maneuvers.

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-aramis
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Smith & Wesson: The Original Point and Click interface!

 

[TheDS]

I believe this was discussed in an issue of Challenge... one of the last issues, or in Starship Operator's Manual (For MT). I recall reading something about this somewhere, perhaps even in the MT Ref book itself!

In order to fire an effective shot at an enemy, you must know where he is, and where he will be when your shot gets there. Ranges for all Trav are HUGE. Engaging at a lightsecond or 10? Ludicrous... So ludicrous that they came up with Grav-focused lasers in TNE just to keep the flavor of the game.

To get this precise knowledge, you have a fire-control radar, or rather, a ladar, since radar wouldn't be nearly accurate enough. The target ship has ladar-receivers in the same way that modern (military) aircraft and ships have threat-warning receivers to detect the enemy weapons guidance radars. Upon detecting this, the sandcaster immediately fires into action.

But wait! There's more!

As you point out, the sand will quickly disperse unless you control the stuff. At low techs, you use magnetism, and later on you use gravitics. This is why sand gets more effective (and you can fit more cannisters into a launcher) at higher tech levels. The sandcaster turret disperses enough sand to effectively block most of the incoming laser energy, and controls where the sand stays. As far as the ship is concerned, it has a forcefield made of sand protecting it.

As sand is lost to enemy fire or collisions with things like atmosphere and rocks, more cannisters are fired off to maintain the wall. With enough launchers pouring sand out, you can have a good wall, but trying to protect the Missouri with a single sandcaster is like playing pong with an infinitely fast ball.

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"This is a spaceship! Why did you throw that grenade here?"
"I was just trying to get the bad guys."
"Uh guys,..."
BOOOMM!

 

[phydaux]

IMTU we ignore sandcasters. Even in '79 I didn't like them. Still don't.