Striker Vehicle Design

[Meteoric Assault]

Well... thing is, the Imperial grav tanks are only 15 Td, not frightfully expensive, double as slow-but-very-deadly air/space fighters, and are not normally fielded where the locals exhibit no will to live nor technological parity.

1st nuke dropped gets the firer dumped on with a handful of nukes on the launcher. Followed by promises of saturation bombardment if another is dropped. And if another is, the combined meson and nuke fire takes out the ability to hide or fight, right after whatever is left bugs out.

As for missile saturation... it's not quite as easy as it looks, especially if there's a TL difference. Striker doesn't present the whole picture, but basically, the Trepida squadron includes a same speed Astrin-E ECM platform... which can jam and spoof missiles pretty well. It's not assured defense, but coupled with on-trepida PD capabilities, it's usually good enough. And the Trepida isn't heavy armored (only 40 - same as a starship), but it is mach-1... many tac missiles won't catch it, and it's orbit capable. And only MCr20... it's job is to protect deploying marines, not to be a MBT. And in that role, it's a wonderful boat.

Unless you're the poor schmuck assigned to one. Then it's a hot shakey ride straight into hell at mach 1+ as you fly with the drop troops. And you pray that the big boys got all the big PlanDef with Mesons from orbit. And that the Driver stops before you smoking hole.

in modern present day parlance its a HIND-D on heavy Steroids and unlimited on station time.

 

[aramis]

in modern present day parlance its a HIND-D on heavy Steroids and unlimited on station time.

Actually, I was thinking more of an Apache... with a version configured with upgraded kit based upon the EF-111 and/or EA-6B in the squadron.

But, yeah.

 

[Meteoric Assault]

Actually, I was thinking more of an Apache... with a version configured with upgraded kit based upon the EF-111 and/or EA-6B in the squadron.

But, yeah.

Still to this day I try to get my head around Tech level 12 + weaponry.... I have a hard time taking the weapon system and envisioning its tactical applications.. hence the PGMP-12 topic... which is beginning to get annoying.

 

[aramis]

Still to this day I try to get my head around Tech level 12 + weaponry.... I have a hard time taking the weapon system and envisioning its tactical applications.. hence the PGMP-12 topic... which is beginning to get annoying.

The plasma gun is a combined flamer and anti-tank weapon. Under both striker and MT, it functions in both roles.

Generally, it doesn't ignite stuff - the heat impulse is too short - but it does detonate water at impact. And water flashes over to steam with a 28:1 expansion... sending shock and fragmentation through human bodies, and causing a melting jet-effect penetration on medium vehicular/light starship armor.

And, if there's an atmosphere, making a cracking good thump! (from air heating expansion.)

 

[Carlobrand]

Given that I was talking about the threat from neighboring stellar empires, and not some locals lacking technological parity, I'm not certain the saturation-bombardment threat would do more than trigger equivalent counterthreats. Shades of the cold war: faced with a choice between certain defeat and a risk at escalation to a far-bloodier stalemate, the enemy may well risk escalation. From his point of view, he's using the minimum force needed to stop your higher-tech, more powerful tanks. You're free to do the same to his tanks, but if you're going to escalate, he can escalate too. He nukes your tank, you nuke his entire division, he responds by nuking your entire world from orbit rather than landing an army at the next world he invades, you respond in kind and the borders become a belt of devastated lifeless worlds. They might find that a better alternative than having your higher tech armor rule the field.

Trepida/Astrin's what, Striker-2? Megatrav?

I might need to switch to that. That ECM-spoof ability you mention isn't a Striker feature - ECM's effective outside of visual range in Striker, but once you're actually in the enemy's sight, it's laser-designators, target memory or teleguided stuff coming at you without regard to your ECM capabilities or TL - and a properly-made enemy vehicle will happily weather the tertiary blast effects if they can put you in the primary blast effects, so needing to be within visual sighting is only a moderate constraint. Striker also simplifies the speed bit - a good hi-performance tac missile will catch pretty much anything and its so cheap and easy to add the extra fuel that there's no point in NOT making it hi-p.

At any rate, I would be very interested in knowing which new game system handles it best.

 

[aramis]

At any rate, I would be very interested in knowing which new game system handles it best.

MegaTraveller is about the best at handling it from what I've seen. The Pen/AV scores are scaled the same as striker, BTW.

 

[Tobias]

Actually, 1 metric ton of HYDROGEN... and in the section on deckplans, noted as 1.5x3x3m.

Yes, I know. I was answering Hyphen.

 

[Hyphen]

LBB2 page 48 always seemed pretty clear and definitive to me.

Yep, prettymuch ALL the cargoes in my Trade Tables were calculated to include packaging.

There not all 1000 tons, though. They're all over the place. (Mostly to represent the break-bulk nature of the small merchant trade.)

 

[Hyphen]

...a properly-made enemy vehicle will happily weather the tertiary blast effects if they can put you in the primary blast effects...

Ah yes, maybe I should point out that one of the lesser-known properties of the Belion is that it was designed to survive being in the outer half of the primary blast radius of a nuke...

 

[Carlobrand]

If you're in the outer half, they missed - and they deserve the fate you will deal them.

(I'm just going to have to get into MegaTrav, ain't I. sigh.)

 

[aramis]

(I'm just going to have to get into MegaTrav, ain't I. sigh.)

Come to the dark side! We have brownies n' beer! (We need them to cope with the errata load)