Onno Meyer wrote:
Pauli replied to me:
'Official' GURPS distortion field technology only affects radars and
bio- or chemscanners, as per (3e) GURPS Ultra-Tech page 86 under
'Distort Belt'.
Allowing a TL10+ Distortion Jammer to affect PESAs and Radscanners
in addition to AESAs is a houserule.
VE59 has the deceptive jammer, and chapter 13 lists the effects
on various sensors.
Indeed, the chapter 13 is clearly based on the Ultra-Tech concept of
the distort belt. According to the Veh Sighting and Detection sidebars
the TL10+ Deceptive Jammer only affects active sensors and the passive
sensor jamming is for some unknown reason strictly limited to 'IRH'
missiles only. Does not jam M.A.D./radscanners, visual systems or
thermographs - Thus it follows that a PESA sensor array is not
affected by it 'officially'.
Yeah. It might make sense to have a houserule that one jammer
could cover at most a certain (large) surface area of a vehicle,
meaning that huge vehicles would need a network of several jammers.
Perhaps something like one jammer per 50 000 sf of hull surface
area at TL10 would be plausible?
If such a rule was introduced, I'd say the listed deceptive jammer
is good for a heavy bomber, to the tune of a B-52 or B-1. Call it
5,000 sf. But for a proper house rule I'd need some research, and
I dislike house rules anyway -- they mean that you can't re-use
vehicles in/from other settings.
I have never ever played or GMed a GURPS game without at least
some houserules in use. If a little bit of extra spice makes a good meal
taste even better, I say go for it.
If a houserule simply changes how a vehicular component from a certain
setting/universe works, it does not automatically make that component
or vehicle totally unusable in another universe with different
'official-rules' tech. It's just different.
If I were to post a write-up of a setting specific vehicle, I'd be
at first clarifying any setting tech differences from official
mainstream, and explaining any new statistics like dodge modifier
(which are entirely optional and can be simply ignored for a game
which does not use such a rule). Most of the stats would likely
be directly compatible with official rules as is.
And Pauli wrote elsewhere:
In a large frontier area the size of a dwarf galaxy (millions of
solar systems, vast majority of which are unused), it is very
much possible for the same pirate crew to keep on practicing their
'job' for a long time and eventually get very good at it. Ship they
will be using would propably be the best one they can afford at the
moment (with the x0.05 or so effective cost modifier for a stolen
and 'hot' ship, maintained with stolen spare parts) - At first just
a relatively low cost civilian transport/yacht or a tramp freighter,
later on a bigger customized freighter and perhaps after a decade or
more of plundering they might be able to use the equivalent of a small
warship like a destroyer or even a cruiser. Targets the pirates choose
would slowly get bigger and more ambitious along with their skills and
ships.
That fits historical precedents, but it works best if the pirates
can transfer weapons etc. from one hull to the next. Start with a
little ship and a few guns, attack a merchant ship with a larger
hull and slightly fewer guns (because it carries too much cargo),
mount all weapons on the prize and go for the next bigger prey
with the combined broadside on the new hull.
To make this work out, it must be possible to add weapons from
one ship to the other, and lots of relatively small weapons must
be a credible armament. Fighters could be such a weapon, but how
many traders have a small flight of fighters, and can it be taken
intact? Missiles are another option, but of course they would be
bad for boarding actions.
At least in my setting, it might make perfect sense for
a not-so-agile frontier tramp freighter to carry two or even
more LSFs on external docking hardpoints (or vehicle bays when
available). This really only affects the FTL speed a little
(something like 5-20 tons of extra mass per LSF) on a freighter
which may weigh something like 400-2000 tons empty. LSFs tend
to cost relatively little, since they are small enough for cheap
massproduction (x0.25 vehicles price) and are built in large
quantities a bit like automobiles today. Something like 250+ Kcr
cost for one LSF, as compared to 20 Mcr or so for an average
frontier tramp freighter. (Campaign average starting wealth is
75 Kcr and jobs have a x5 wage multiplier.)
Also, instead of having to buy those LSFs, the tramp freighter
might be able to hire a few mercenaries with their own fighters
for a particularly risky but profitable route. Especially
megacorps tend to use mercenaries (more 'expendable' assets
than regular employees), if they cannot or do not want to send
in their own corporate security forces.
Disabling an LSF with a less-lethal Neural Blast Cannon is possible,
usually one or two hits is enough, but agile and small LSF can be
a difficult target to hit (especially if using the 'dodge modifier'
houserule), requiring several combat turns per weapon to shoot down
a fighter. Any fire the enemy has to direct at the LSFs, is not
being directed towards the larger freighter.
-Pauli
--
"Our ship is made out of darkness, she mocks the laws of nature.
With cables, ropes, tackle and sails, she moves on the waves
of the void. On her decks a red crew, dark as if painted with
blood. From among the hooded cloaks of crimson, eyes of
silver gleam darkly.. Oldest of all is Hiram of Malta, the Red
Commander. He knows the secrets of Schwarzchild Radii, of Neutron
Stars and Cepheids. His hidden paths we follow, like ghosts from
space we strike deep, only to disappear again soon, sometimes even
the fear itself is afraid of us.."
-CMX, Punainen Komentaja
(Translated from the Finnish song 'Red Commander' by CMX)
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