nuclear weapons LBB2
- Thread starter parmasson
- Start date
Fritz_Brown
Super Moderator
Oh dear.... 
KG,
In CT there's nothing on yields for starship weaponry. MT did have yields for 'army' stuff, but not for 'naval' stuff. TNE, thanks to the introduction of det-lasers, did have yields for starship weapons.
I'd pick a yield to hang your hat on and then 'slide' it up as the battery bonuses appear by TL.
Have fun,
Bill
In CT there's nothing on yields for starship weaponry. MT did have yields for 'army' stuff, but not for 'naval' stuff. TNE, thanks to the introduction of det-lasers, did have yields for starship weapons.
I'd pick a yield to hang your hat on and then 'slide' it up as the battery bonuses appear by TL.
Have fun,
Bill
daryen
SOC-14 1K
Honestly, with PC-scale ships nuclear missles are pretty much terminal. A single hit should be able to take out a normal PC-scale ship.
If the PCs are using nuclear missles, they need to make sure there are no survivors. The repercussions will be extremely severe.
If the PCs are facing nuclear missles, they had better hope their defensive laser fire can destroy every single incoming missle why they run away. Or surrender.
If the PCs are using nuclear missles, they need to make sure there are no survivors. The repercussions will be extremely severe.
If the PCs are facing nuclear missles, they had better hope their defensive laser fire can destroy every single incoming missle why they run away. Or surrender.
I am thinking of...
Everything within 2km of a 10 kiloton weapon is vaporized in the kill zone (2d6 x 100 for giggles) , 2 km out to 4km takes 2d6 x 2d6 hits and from 4km to 8km 1d6 hits.
They may find:
TL-12 6G6 “Starburst I” 10kt Imperial Navy Nuclear Missile. 50kg, 15cm by 100cm.
Individually sealed in heavy duty cylindrical containers with yellow and black striping.
Everything within 2km of a 10 kiloton weapon is vaporized in the kill zone (2d6 x 100 for giggles) , 2 km out to 4km takes 2d6 x 2d6 hits and from 4km to 8km 1d6 hits.
They may find:
TL-12 6G6 “Starburst I” 10kt Imperial Navy Nuclear Missile. 50kg, 15cm by 100cm.
Individually sealed in heavy duty cylindrical containers with yellow and black striping.
Those destruction radii are significantly too high.
http://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/doctrine/dod/fm8-9/1ch3.htm give predicted effect radii on unarmored personnel.
http://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/doctrine/dod/fm8-9/1ch3.htm give predicted effect radii on unarmored personnel.
FWIW, SS3 can't build such a thing, and if it could, it would run at least MCr10/unit, mostly for the high-yield warhead (which, in HG2 terms, would make a single factor-7 salvo cost a cool MCr300; OTOH, it would pack a .3MTon punch, which is getting up there into StratNuke territory)...
Typically, even under Striker, fractional-kiloton yields are more cost-effective against tactical targets. The "standard" IN anti-ship missile is around .1KTon, IIRC.
TheEngineer
SOC-14 1K
Thats what they tell You to feel a bit more save....
Anyway, perhaps TL-12 nukes just have higher conversion rates ?
Anyway, perhaps TL-12 nukes just have higher conversion rates ?
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
The blast radius of a nuke in space is nowhere near as big as in an atmosphere due to the lack of a gas pressure wave:
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3x.html#nuke
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3x.html#nuke
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
The CT missiles special supplement:
Note that the text implies that larger fusion warheads are possible as it doesn't mention the 10 kiloton maximum.
Damage:
These warheads fit on standard ship to ship missiles.
Note that the text implies that larger fusion warheads are possible as it doesn't mention the 10 kiloton maximum.
Damage:
If a missile detonates in contact, then normal hits are doubled (although this shouldn't apply to ER warheads).
Hoooo
I obviously did not read that closely. That is what I get for not checking that close.
So a 1kt nuke is going to be plenty big for game purposes.
Mainly I just want the stats to “make it real” for them. The real purpose in giving the characters a nuke is to give them the opportunity to save their skins once. I have confidence that they will save it for a special occasion. I am ready for Sunday if we get a chance to play.
Revised weapon...
TL-12 “Regulator I” 1kt Imperial Navy Nuclear Missile. Individually sealed in heavy duty cylindrical containers with yellow and black striping.
Discretionary Burn, 6G6, Yield 1 kiloton
15cm by 100cm, mass 50kg
Mass, neutrino, infrared, and radar sensors
Hits: 100 blast, 20 radiation, effect area 1km (for simplicity sake)
These weapons are high regulated by the Imperium with each serial number assigned to a specific ship and regularly inventoried by navy special ordinance officials.
---
No price is listed but one could expect the black market price to be MCr2 at the very least.
I am going to make possession a grave felony punishable by death.
----
I am guessing that a 1 rad hit on a character would be instantly fatal.
I obviously did not read that closely. That is what I get for not checking that close.
So a 1kt nuke is going to be plenty big for game purposes.
Mainly I just want the stats to “make it real” for them. The real purpose in giving the characters a nuke is to give them the opportunity to save their skins once. I have confidence that they will save it for a special occasion. I am ready for Sunday if we get a chance to play.
Revised weapon...
TL-12 “Regulator I” 1kt Imperial Navy Nuclear Missile. Individually sealed in heavy duty cylindrical containers with yellow and black striping.
Discretionary Burn, 6G6, Yield 1 kiloton
15cm by 100cm, mass 50kg
Mass, neutrino, infrared, and radar sensors
Hits: 100 blast, 20 radiation, effect area 1km (for simplicity sake)
These weapons are high regulated by the Imperium with each serial number assigned to a specific ship and regularly inventoried by navy special ordinance officials.
---
No price is listed but one could expect the black market price to be MCr2 at the very least.
I am going to make possession a grave felony punishable by death.
----
I am guessing that a 1 rad hit on a character would be instantly fatal.
You may need to use Striker for this, since you still can't build it under SS3, as the combination of warhead and propulsion exceed the mass rating.
(Not that I use SS3 for anything but its Radiation Damage Table, mind you, precisely because it makes missiles so hard to build.)
Since you're going 6G6, you might as well delete all but the IR Sensor (and the basic Controller), as this is going to be a "point-blank" weapon. I'd splurge the extra Cr500 for an Intelligent Detonator, too, to beat enemy ECM. And you can skip Discretionary Burn in favor of the cheaper Continuous Burn propulsion, since you'll only be in flight for a single movement phase. A 6G6 Cont. Burn motor will set you back 42Kg, BTW.
And of course, even a TL10 Fusion Warhead will be too hefty (at 20Kg; physical requirements for "critical mass" will keep them from getting much lighter at any higher TL) to fit into a 50Kg missile package with that motor, but you can save hundreds of Credits by going with the .1KTon size; such mininuke warheads retail (to authorized clients under the Imperial Rules of War, which means the IN only) for a modest KCr100 each, which is a nice cost-savings.
Like I say, I don't use SS3 much IMTU, but I think if going that route, I'd up the "standard" turret missile to 100Kg mass, while keeping the overall dimensions (to use the standard missile rack launcher). This would allow more headroom for warhead/motor capacity, and seems more realistic; weapons are heavy, you know...
That's what I do.
IMTU, I figure the 50Kg package is about 20Kg for warhead (whatever type), about 5Kg for a multi-spectrum EM targeting sensor and proximity detonator, and the remaining 25Kg or so is a disposable 6G grav module with maybe a week's worth of powercell fuel and a simple computer controller...
B
Black Globe Generator
Guest
Makes sense.
*WARNING! BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SPOILER AHEAD!*
Did anyone else see the destruction of the Cloud 9 in the season finale? The effect of debris from the destroyed ship taking out other nearby ships was pretty dramatic. Might be hard to model in a game except by handwave, though.
The other thing to bear in mind is that although there is no pressure wave in the vacuum of space, neither is there anything to slow down the ejecta; that shrapnel will still be travelling at the speed of the original explosion until it encounters something to decelerate it...
As I alluded to in an above post, SS3 is useful for importing yeild-based and device-type-based nuclear weapon damage effects into LBB2 combat, if nothing else. I'd post the relevant charts, but copyright yadda yadda yadda... isn't SS3 reprinted in one of the BFB dead-tree JTAS compilations?
B
Black Globe Generator
Guest
SS3 is in the second volume of JTAS reprints.
