Spaceships Major Batteries??????

[fiolnir]

Okay, if the Gunnery task only allows the use of a single fixed major battery, how come a lot of the ships from Spaceships v4 have designs with multiple identical fixed major batteries and only ONE crew member??!! What's the point if only one battery can be fired??

...unless im reading the gunnery task rules wrong... anyone got any ideas???

[Varyon]

See Spaceships 1, page 53. Under Gunnery Tasks, it notes a character can control all identical fixed mount weapons. Weapons that aren't identical yet are all controlled by a single gunner simply means the character can't use all of them at once - if a vessel has 3 VRF Major Battery lasers and a Major Battery missile launcher, the character can fire all three lasers or just the missile launcher.

[fiolnir]

Sounds good. Ive read that page over and over again... it always reads to me as if only the identical weapons within a single battery could be fired. I appreciate the clarification.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by fiolnir

Sounds good. Ive read that page over and over again... it always reads to me as if only the identical weapons within a single battery could be fired. I appreciate the clarification.

...Looking at the text, I think you'd have been entirely correct. I can't find a citation supporting the idea that you can use multiple batteries.

Am I missing a key sentence somewhere, or is this one of those Spaceships rules errors?

[fiolnir]

I would of never questioned the rule...but then after looking at Spaceships v4 it got me wondering!

[fiolnir]

Anybody else have an opinion on this??

[vierasmarius]

Considering there are several places in SS4 where it lists pairs of Major or Medium batteries on a single line, it's reasonable to assume that identical fixed weapons can be fired together, regardless of whether or not they're in the same battery. Just remember that even though multiple weapons are firing, they aren't making multiple attacks, just increasing the effective RoF of the attack. Seem balanced enough to me.

A good example is the Starhawk fighter. It is essentially an X-Wing, complete with a missile launcher, four laser cannons, and a robot-operated Engine Room for in-flight repairs.

[fiolnir]

I agree. I think it allows a greater diversity of ship designs, especially when emulating spaceships from fiction.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

Considering there are several places in SS4 where it lists pairs of Major or Medium batteries on a single line, it's reasonable to assume that identical fixed weapons can be fired together, regardless of whether or not they're in the same battery.

No, that really doesn't have any such implication.

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

Just remember that even though multiple weapons are firing, they aren't making multiple attacks, just increasing the effective RoF of the attack. Seem balanced enough to me.

A good example is the Starhawk fighter. It is essentially an X-Wing, complete with a missile launcher, four laser cannons, and a robot-operated Engine Room for in-flight repairs.

Yeah, it's not imbalanced or unreasonable. (In fact, if anything it's most likely to be disadvantageous.)

The problem is that it seems to be contrary to the rules as written. And I have to say I think the rules should not be written to contradict their intent.

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

No, that really doesn't have any such implication.

The mere fact that the designs include multiple identical fixed batteries, but especially the fact of how they are frequently grouped, is a clear indication of the author's intent on the matter.

The problem is that it seems to be contrary to the rules as written. And I have to say I think the rules should not be written to contradict their intent.

The RAW is wrong, and as such is being ignored even by the authors of the Spaceships series.