TL15 Spinal Mount Comparison

Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 18:48:12 -0500
From: bonn0015@flipper.itlabs.umn.edu (STEVEN M BONNEVILLE)
Subject: TL15 Spinal Mount Comparison

Spinal mounts: a comparison.

I designed three spinal mounts, all with a DV of 2500 at one light-second.

TL15 250-GJ Meson Gun
---------------------
Length:  250 meters
Volume:  677503 kL    Mass: 462753 metric tons
Power:     6944 MW    Crew:   1250
Surface Area: 5000 sq. meters
Price:   MCr 62940
10:2500  20:625  40:156  80:39

TL15 250-GJ PAWS Spinal Mount
-----------------------------
Length:  500 meters
Volume:  44360 kL     Mass: 87953 metric tons
Power:    6944 MW     Crew:     1
Surface Area:  2.4 sq. meters
Price:   MCr 497.8
10:2500  20:2500  40:2500  80:2500

TL15 Terajoule Laser Lance
--------------------------
Volume:  180320 kL    Mass: 355313 metric tons
Power:    27778 MW    Crew:      1
Surface Area:  5.3 sq. meters
Price:  MCr 2812
10:1/800-2500  20:1/800-2500  40:1/800-2500  80:1/800-2500


On an actual starship installation, it's likely that these weapons will 
be installed at ten times the listed power requirement, so they can get 
the -2 Diff Mod bonus for high ROF operation.

Cheapest and most compact is the PAWS mount.  At 3200 d-tons, it's near 
a traditional size.  Great range performance, but it will have to deal
with armor and sandcasters.  PAWS mounts are also great candidates for
beefing up to high rates of fire; it doesn't take as much to do it to
a PAWS as to a laser, and meson guns can't be beefed up to -5 Diff Mod.

In the middle is the huge laser lance, in all categories.  It displaces
about 13000 d-tons.  It's enormous penetration should be more than 
enough to let it go after deep meson sites.  However, sandcasters still 
affect this weapon, and I think that you're allowed to fire as many 
sandcasters at an attacking laser as you like and have available.  
Also, while the rules in Battle Rider might not reflect this, I suspect 
that this weapon would go *through* a target, wasting a lot of its' 
energy on empty space.  It would still do a lot of damage.  Another 
disadvantage is that it needs four times as much power as the spinal 
mounts.  It's massive (which could cause an increase in the size of 
your maneuver drive) but it has no length requirement.  I call it a 
laser lance, because while there's no reason why the lens, which is 
only 380 d-tons of the design, couldn't be made movable, if it were 
movable it would probably need more surface area.

Most expensive, biggest (at over 48000 d-tons), and with a big support
crew, is the meson gun.  It doesn't have the 2400 Mm effective range
that the other two weapons have.  It has a big surface area requirement.
But the only defense against a hit from this weapon is the meson screen,
and it would need to be a big meson screen.

Comments, anyone?

  Steve Bonneville
  <bonn0015@gold.tc.umn.edu>