Anthony replied to me: > > some of you mentioned mobile standoff mines for a 3e TL13 force. Any > > suggestions how much damage such a system could do? > > Pretty much the same as a short range disposable rocket launcher; figure > the warhead weight is probably about 25% of the total vehicle weight (I'd > have to hunt down VE2, I haven't done this sort of design for a while, but > it's perfectly possible to build a missile with a 50% warhead fraction, a > single-shot disposable launcher that's 50% the weight of the missile, and > then toss in a robot brain and a frame).
That would be an emplaced standoff mine, not the mobile, self-healing minefield suggested by some. A 150mm normal HEAT warhead does 6d*60(10), enough to punch through 6,300 points of laminate, or 3,150 points of laminate with thermal superconducting armor. That would be a 27-lb. warhead on a 100-lb. standoff mine (the TL13 equivalent of a big AT mine). That suggests concentrating the armor of the contragrav bulldozer in front. That calculation only works if things stay conventional. On the one hand, TL13 assumes mature interstellar drives. If you have many planets to settle, then devastating one to defend the others may be thinkable. On the other hand, perhaps ground forces are only deployed if there is a -- spoken or unspoken -- agreement to fight for the planet, not to blow it. > > My estimate is that battlesuits are DR 750 while AFVs are DR 4,000 or > > more, and vehicles carry point defense. The point defense means you > > need many missiles, while the armor means you need big missiles. > > Generally the point of standoff mines is to fire at too short a range for > point defense. According to the 3E rules, missiles can only be engaged in their second turn of flight, and they accelerate instantly to their cruise speed. It could be a reason to go for lightspeed beam weapons, rather than the grav guns suggested by Tim. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
