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Rail gun damage?


tkdguy

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

How many dice you got?

 

Seriously,

Depends on what effect you really want them to have. Defense levels of the campaign, all that kind of thing.

 

I really avoid the generic "This gun is X Dice" concepts because each campaign is different.

 

But... just to toss out an answer...

 

Very Fast Kinetic Object: 5D6 RKA, Armor Piercing would probably drive the point home quite nicely.

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

I use a completely different scale than my brother does, but not out of disrespect. A SABOT round in an M1A1 I think is 8d6; at least MY tanks dish out 8d6. The Spinal Mount on my cruisers does 16d6, but is meant to punch straight through a ship, so that may be way, way too big for you.

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

Maybe 8d6 would be an absolute maximum, with guns mounted on the largest ships. 5d6 would be an average, with 3d6 being used in tanks and smaller ships. I wouldn't have any spinal mounts at this time because the setting is the near future, and first war in space is being waged. That would limit the firepower a bit.

 

FYI, I'm using the same mechanic for all EM guns. Railguns would be the main guns of the ships, while coilguns would be used for point defenses.

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

Maybe 8d6 would be an absolute maximum, with guns mounted on the largest ships. 5d6 would be an average, with 3d6 being used in tanks and smaller ships. I wouldn't have any spinal mounts at this time because the setting is the near future, and first war in space is being waged. That would limit the firepower a bit.

 

FYI, I'm using the same mechanic for all EM guns. Railguns would be the main guns of the ships, while coilguns would be used for point defenses.

 

Well, the differences between them are mechanical; I don't see how they'd really differ in terms of damage other than the scale of the shell, but then, I'm the guy who's constantly complaining that the game does not scale correctly from size to size. I still hold that the system needs an all new, overhauled vehicle system.

 

I know Steve disagrees, but if I can have a completely overhauled energy system, can I get a completely overhauled vehicle system!? KAHN!!!

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

I use a completely different scale than my brother does' date=' but not out of disrespect. A SABOT round in an M1A1 I think is 8d6; at least MY tanks dish out 8d6. The [i']Spinal Mount[/i] on my cruisers does 16d6, but is meant to punch straight through a ship, so that may be way, way too big for you.

 

Is that with or without things like AP and Pen?

 

Personally, I'm a big believer in controlling Defenses and Advantages. Which tends to gauge my offensive rankings on the low end of the dice range. As you said - different scales.

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

True. I was thinking for point defense' date=' add Autofire and lose AP.[/quote']

 

Sure, but the rounds are likely going to be AP regardless -- that's really the advantage of a coil gun/rail gun/kinetic weapon. It doesn't over heat, it doesn't care what size the shell is, and can spit them out pretty much as fast as you can feed them in. So any variance is purely a system (i.e., designer) choice.

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

Thai, have you tried using the alternate/optional rules that let you add the Size of the vehicle to the body damage done but the attack to simulate larger class weapons on the bigger vehicles?

 

Also, 3d6 seems a bit low for a vehicle weapon unless the above rule is used. a .50 sniper rifle from Dark Champions does 3d6. (I happen to agree with Thai on this as well. I don't think Hero damage scales well). This also depends, as has been discussed, on where you're Defenses are.

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

If you wish "realism", a rail gun can have any amount of damage.

Their advantage is they can fire shells at higher velocities than "gas-expansion" weapons. Right now the best gas expansion guns (like on the M1A2) can attain a muzzle velocity of about a mile per second; the current experimental rail guns can double that.

So if the railgun is firing projectiles the size of a 0.50 cal HMG, it would have between 2 and 4 times the damage of the HMG. (There is still an argument over whether damage is more closely related to kinetic energy or momentum.)

For the spinal mount on a warship, it should realistically be be much more powerfull than a modern tank cannon, since your advanced tanks will probably have railguns with more power than current guns.

If you want point defense, etc. then anywhere from 4d6 to 12d6, probably with AP, is reasonable. If it is the ships secondary battery, it should be over 12d6 (personally, I would make it quite a bit over), and if it is the main battery, the sky is the limit.

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

Thai, have you tried using the alternate/optional rules that let you add the Size of the vehicle to the body damage done but the attack to simulate larger class weapons on the bigger vehicles?

 

Also, 3d6 seems a bit low for a vehicle weapon unless the above rule is used. a .50 sniper rifle from Dark Champions does 3d6. (I happen to agree with Thai on this as well. I don't think Hero damage scales well). This also depends, as has been discussed, on where you're Defenses are.

 

Not to pick a nit -- and please don't mod me for this, it really is meant as politely possible. It's "THIA." Tee, Aich, Eye, Aeh. THIA. Not 'Thai.' I'm a Paladin, not a cuisine. ;)

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

Culture. Thai Food is the cuisine of the Thai People from Thailand.

 

/nit

:D

 

 

(I hit you because I love you)

 

I'll remember this the next time I have to pass some 'love' your way. *gives GA brain freeze and smacks him upside the head with his Holy Ice Cream Cone of Smiting*

 

I'm well aware of the distinction. Cuisine was funnier.

 

 

 

 

 

smartass

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

Not to pick a nit -- and please don't mod me for this' date=' it really is meant as politely possible. It's "THIA." Tee, Aich, Eye, Aeh. THIA. Not 'Thai.' I'm a Paladin, not a cuisine. ;)[/quote']

 

LOL. I didn't even realize I did that. And here, I even want back to make sure I spelled your name right. Wow . .

 

And anyway, I thought Paladins where just a crunchy type of cuisine. :P

 

Anyway, I am sorry about that . . will try and keep it from happening again but no promises. :)

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

Sure' date=' but the rounds are likely going to be AP regardless -- that's really the advantage of a coil gun/rail gun/kinetic weapon. It doesn't over heat, it doesn't care what size the shell is, and can spit them out pretty much as fast as you can feed them in. So any variance is purely a system (i.e., designer) choice.[/quote']

 

The power source sure as hell cares what the size of the projectile is and what the rate and velocity of fire are, and it definitely can overheat. It's not the ultimate weapon; for that you need a railgun that shoots katanas.

 

The main advantage, as was stated, is that it overcomes certain limitations of the expanding-gas propellant mechanism (mainly in that after a certain point the force of the propellant exceeds the material strength of the barrel and it explodes). Especially in space, where the lack of atmospheric resistance or gravitational interference and the vast distances involved precipitate maximizing projectile velocities. There are still limitations on the engineering, but theoretical top muzzle velocity is limited by power generation, not metallurgy (in a sense; you still need some metallurgy to keep the coils from melting).

 

Other than a few changed parameters, it's still using the old standby of transferring kinetic energy through propelled mass impacts; making things dead since the first primordial creepy crawler bashed the next one over and ate it. It's no different than a big gun, and we already have a pretty good idea of how those work.

 

Decide on what effect you want first, then work backwards to pseudo-science-babble whatever technological explanation is most plausible.

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

The power source sure as hell cares what the size of the projectile is and what the rate and velocity of fire are' date=' and it definitely can overheat. It's not the ultimate weapon; for that you need a railgun that shoots katanas.[/quote']

 

Or rocket-propelled chainsaws :D

 

You're right, though. Overheating is the major problem right now with railgun design. You're pumping a huge current through something that isn't perfectly conductive - you're going to get induction heating (hence the earlier interest in superconductors). The current problem with the railguns being developed is that they are good for one or two shots: the rapid heating and reaction force of tossing a projectile heats and warps them so much that they need the "rails" replacing after every shot

 

The main advantage' date=' as was stated, is that it overcomes certain limitations of the expanding-gas propellant mechanism (mainly in that after a certain point the force of the propellant exceeds the material strength of the barrel and it explodes). Especially in space, where the lack of atmospheric resistance or gravitational interference and the vast distances involved precipitate maximizing projectile velocities. There are still limitations on the engineering, but theoretical top muzzle velocity is limited by power generation, not metallurgy (in a sense; you still need some metallurgy to keep the coils from melting).[/quote']

 

There's also the limitations that most of the mass of the shell today for high velocity weapons is propellant, which introduces supply issues and the fact that there is an ultimate limit (speed of expansion of the gas) which sets an upper limit to energy transfer. In theory, the upper limit of railguns is much higher than that

 

Other than a few changed parameters' date=' it's still using the old standby of transferring kinetic energy through propelled mass impacts; making things dead since the first primordial creepy crawler bashed the next one over and ate it. It's no different than a big gun, and we already have a pretty good idea of how those work.[/quote']

 

Agreed. Against soft targets, there's no guarantee that railguns would actually do much - if any - more damage than conventional projectiles - if it makes a hole through you, it makes a hole through you. It's primarily the size of the hole that matters, not the speed at which it's made. Against hardened targets, more velocity means higher kinetic energy, so as long as you have a projectile that can efficiently transfer that energy, you should get better penetration. But there's no real reason it'd do more damage.

 

The real advantage of a railgun in space is the same as in real life - it gets your damage to the target faster, so they have less time to evade, and if you have the power to run it, you can carry more ammo for the same amount of weight.

 

cheers, Mark

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

Is your name pronounced with a hard "T" sound' date=' like Tia Carrera?[/quote']

 

No, soft T -- much like the end of the word 'Terabithia' -- which is odd, because I'd come up with the name long before I ever heard of the film and never read the book. :nonp: But it's pronounced nearly identically. Like 'three' but without the 'r.'

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

The power source sure as hell cares what the size of the projectile is and what the rate and velocity of fire are' date=' and it definitely can overheat. It's not the ultimate weapon; for that you need a railgun that shoots katanas.[/quote']

 

Disagree. The ultimate weapon shoots nubile, consenting virgins into enemy territory. :eg: Who are really ninjas. YES. And they seduce the enemy, kill them, then return home to 'reward' the real soldiers. YES. I'm so joining the army if this weapon is ever developed...

 

 

 

 

Sorry, not awake yet.

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Re: Rail gun damage?

 

No' date=' soft T -- much like the end of the word 'Terabithia' -- which is odd, because I'd come up with the name long before I ever heard of the film and never read the book. :nonp:'[/quote']

Though not to put too fine a point on it, the name Terabithia is from a much older book.

 

From Katherine Paterson's official web site:

Q: Where did the name Terabithia come from?

 

A: I thought I'd made up "Terabithia". I realized when the book was nearly done, that there is an island in "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by C. S. Lewis called Terebinthia. I'm sure I borrowed that unconsciously, but, then, so would Leslie who loved the Chronicles of Narnia. And, by the way, Lewis got Terebinthia from the Biblical terebinth tree, so it wasn't original with him either.

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