[Spaceships] Can Spinal Battery be bundles of smaller weapons?

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

I believe that spinal batteries wereeffectively an early attempt to represent what would eventually become the larger systems rule.

No, they were a representation of the spinal mounts from Traveller and other SF games and the odd book. Unfortunately aside from having a sometimes more useful systems layout, they are worse than a 'larger system' Major Battery if they consume munitions, because they hold less.

A more elegant solution would be using a +1 SM front section main weapon battery. For example, a classic science fiction SM+9 gunboat may have a SM+10 main battery in the front section, a SM+10 fusion reactor in the center section, and a SM+10 reactionless drive in the rear section. The remainder of the systems may be a control room, an engine room, a fusion reactor, a habitat, a hanger bay, a tactical sensor/comm array, two main weapon battery turrets, and three armors, all at SM+9.

That's probably a bad idea, because those SM+10 systems aren't much harder to disable than a SM+9 system, but disabling any part of them brings down the whole system. Three SM+9 reactors and engines are thus better than one SM+10 system.

[Pectus Solentis]

Originally Posted by RyanW

Well, yes. But if someone wanted to make some kind of "triple barreled spinal mount" an option as a house rule, the main benefit I could see is that you'd be getting three forward facing major mount sized weapons, but still have 5 forward slots remaining (in exchange for the core and rear slots). The only other thing I can think of is maybe the Accelerator Tube Limits rule (SS7) limiting a weapon to a spinal mount.

I imagined exactly that, because using 3 front system slots up is different from using 1 front, 1 central core, 1 rear system slots.

I wanted my Venatrix Interceptor (SM +6) shoot a barrage of missiles to intercept enemy fighters effectively with its bundle of Spinal missile launchers. Venatrix is a sister model of Venator Bomber (SM +6 too) which shoots a big one missile with its normal Spinal missile launcher. Only diffences for them is their (spinal) missile launchers. I think multiple barrels of Spinal missile launcher makes a good image.

Will it be fine that I mount multibarrel spinal missile launchers?
Or, will it be fine that I define Rapid/Very Rapid Fire missile launcher?
(I think the latter options will be a substitution for multibarrel missile launchers.)

There is no rules for Rapid/Very Rapid Fire missile launcher in GURPS Spaceships. I doubt why there is no rules for that.
Did GURPS Spaceships authors think that Rapid/Very Rapid Fire missile launcher is not plausible option? Then why?

[AlexanderHowl]

The exhaust would likely ignite each subsequent missile prematurely if they did not launch from multiple tubes. The best way to model such a system is Tertiary Weapon Batteries × N (giving RoF 30 × N). For example, three such systems would give RoF 90.

[Pectus Solentis]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

The exhaust would likely ignite each subsequent missile prematurely if they did not launch from multiple tubes.

Then cold launching (as modern navyships' VLS does) will be an answer. At higher TL, shipbuilders will be able to build EM launchers in missile tubes which will make cold launching more effective.
And being Rapid Fire de jure and being Multibarrel de facto will be an answer too.
How about mixing these 2 approaches?

The best way to model such a system is Tertiary Weapon Batteries × N (giving RoF 30 × N). For example, three such systems would give RoF 90.

I want the module that spans front - central core - rear systems, not 3 front systems.

[Pectus Solentis]

What makes me confused is there are no explicit mentions that it is possible or not in Spaceships #7.

I know that weapon batteries use its own systems (Major, Medium, Secondary, Tertiary, ...) but Spinal Battery is an unique case (footnote 1) and there are no mentions that Spinal Battery can be installed as a smaller system or not. it makes me so confused. Could writers not expect this question?

footnote 1 : Spinal Battery consists of 3 systems, Front Hull - Central Core - Rear Hull. Other Larger Systems use up 3 system slots that are in the same hull section, different from Spinal Battery.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Pectus Solentis

What makes me confused is there are no explicit mentions that it is possible or not in Spaceships #7.

I know that weapon batteries use its own systems (Major, Medium, Secondary, Tertiary, ...) but Spinal Battery is an unique case (footnote 1) and there are no mentions that Spinal Battery can be installed as a smaller system or not. it makes me so confused. Could writers not expect this question?

footnote 1 : Spinal Battery consists of 3 systems, Front Hull - Central Core - Rear Hull. Other Larger Systems use up 3 system slots that are in the same hull section, different from Spinal Battery.

The answer that a 'small Spinal Battery' is just a primary battery seems obvious and not necessarily worth the page space...

[Pectus Solentis]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

The answer that a 'small Spinal Battery' is just a primary battery seems obvious and not necessarily worth the page space...

Did you mean Major Battery?
I thnk 1 system is different from 3 of 1/3 small systems.

[AlexanderHowl]

One advantage of a +1 SM major weapon battery over a SM spinal battery is that it can be modular. For example, you could have a SM+9 modular gunboat (with only the core systems, the Control Room and Engine Room, remaining unchanged), that could alternate between having a 3 GJ laser, three RF 100 MJ lasers, nine VRF 3 MJ lasers, 30 28cm missile tubes, or 90 12cm railguns, with only $60k (60 hours) worth of work to change them out. Since spinal batteries include a core system, they are not modular, though they may be refitted.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Rupert

they were a representation of the spinal mounts from Traveller and other SF games and the odd book.

Not to mention the Death Star, Space Battleship Yamato's Wave Motion Gun, Vorlon cruisers in Babylon 5, the "keel mounted railguns" in The Expanse, Ori motherships in Stargate SG-1, or the original Battlestar Galactica*. Spinal mounts aren't a rare oddity or something Traveller introduced into RPGs. Even spaceships think it's cool to carry around a BFG 9000.

--
* in which the Galactica reveals in the last episode a couple of massive superlasers firing from the nose that smoke a Base Star -- kinda making me wonder why they waste so much time with the Vipers...

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Pectus Solentis

What makes me confused is there are no explicit mentions that it is possible or not in Spaceships #7.

The requirement that a Spinal Battery occupy 2 Core systems makes it impossible to have more than 1. You only have 2 Core systems.