Rupert replied to me: [...] > > Of course to make that lock, the missile launcher (and the vehicle) needs to > > be within line of sight of the target, which is assumed to be an enemy grav > > tank. Who shoots first? [...] > > So, if the target is detected and the missile locks on, it loses most, > but not all of its HP from the frontal hit and gets gets trashed from a > side hit. How reasonable this is seems to depend on how large the > targeting assistance bonus is, and how prevalent and effective > anti-missile point-defence is.
Hello Rupert, point defense is somewhat effective, and very prevalent because of that. Besides, it can be useful against recon drones, powered armor, even light vehicles. The $2M grav missile carrier can mission-kill or even kill the $40M grav tank, if it gets a good shot. If there is suddenly a clear line of sight, to the surprise of both vehicles -- say on an intersection in an urban area -- the missile carrier will probably still make the lock-on roll when the tank is already firing a snapshot burst. You could try to make the tank destroyer more survivable, but that would make it more expensive as well, until you get a missile tank. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raketenjagdpanzer_2 If the there is prior warning, say because both sides have little sensor drones on a ridge, the missileers should bring two or three grav missile carriers to take one grav tank out. One or two will be fried before they launch, but money-wise they're still ahead. Crew losses could go either way, assuming three in the tank and two in each missile carrier. If the missile carrier sits in a well-camouflaged position and the grav tank blunders into view, the tank is history. Overall, that sounds a lot like the modern situation regarding MBTs and ATGM jeeps. Both have their strengths, both have their roles. If you can afford the spacelift capacity, it probably makes sense to bring a few grav tanks. If you can't, grav missile carriers are still better than 'handheld' ATGMs of the powered infantry. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
