Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-14-2014, 09:41 AM   #1
Vynticator
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Default Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

One of the few things you might be worried about in a Dreadnought Battlesuit seems to be missiles. Could you fit an AI-powered point defence cannon to such a suit to deal with incoming HEMP warheads, for instance?
Vynticator is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2014, 11:47 AM   #2
Gedrin
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Default Re: Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

If the suit couldn't fit the AI, it could have control links for one on a "command suit". That might even be preferable. Particularly, if you have multiple suits that can cover each other.
Gedrin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2014, 11:51 AM   #3
McAllister
 
McAllister's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

Wait, does GURPS have rules for missile point defense? Where the heck are they?
McAllister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2014, 12:05 PM   #4
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

Quote:
Originally Posted by McAllister View Post
Wait, does GURPS have rules for missile point defense? Where the heck are they?
Spaceships has them - the gunner (in this case, the AI) takes Wait (Point Defense), and for any projectile that tries to hit the ship the gunner gets to take a shot at in an attempt to destroy it.
Varyon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2014, 12:55 PM   #5
vicky_molokh
GURPS FAQ Keeper
 
vicky_molokh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
Default Re: Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

Quote:
Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
Spaceships has them - the gunner (in this case, the AI) takes Wait (Point Defense), and for any projectile that tries to hit the ship the gunner gets to take a shot at in an attempt to destroy it.
Note that Spaceships assumes gunnery actions on the scale of somewhere between 20 seconds and 10 minutes per resolution of one attack.
__________________
Vicky 'Molokh', GURPS FAQ and uFAQ Keeper
vicky_molokh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2014, 01:38 PM   #6
McAllister
 
McAllister's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

Quote:
Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
Note that Spaceships assumes gunnery actions on the scale of somewhere between 20 seconds and 10 minutes per resolution of one attack.
So there aren't actually any rules for point defense systems on a battlesuit aside from "stick a gun on it, make whatever's controlling the gun take a Wait maneuver, it tries to shoot down incoming missiles but takes a penalty from their small profile and high speed"? Although I suppose that works, if you've figured out how to handle sticking independently-controlled guns on your battlesuit (and answered questions like "how many guns can I stick on," "how big can they be," "what reloads them" etc). Makes me wish there were rules for making human-scale battlesuits modular.

Also makes me wish that rapid fire added to accuracy a little faster than it does now...
McAllister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2014, 02:02 PM   #7
vicky_molokh
GURPS FAQ Keeper
 
vicky_molokh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
Default Re: Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

Quote:
Originally Posted by McAllister View Post
So there aren't actually any rules for point defense systems on a battlesuit aside from "stick a gun on it, make whatever's controlling the gun take a Wait maneuver, it tries to shoot down incoming missiles but takes a penalty from their small profile and high speed"? Although I suppose that works, if you've figured out how to handle sticking independently-controlled guns on your battlesuit (and answered questions like "how many guns can I stick on," "how big can they be," "what reloads them" etc). Makes me wish there were rules for making human-scale battlesuits modular.

Also makes me wish that rapid fire added to accuracy a little faster than it does now...
You can probably find a weapon mount/arm somewhere. Then stick an AI into the computer that will have access to the arm. Then use the Wait rules. Which, of course, will give you bad chances unless you know whom you are Waiting against - better detect those missile launchers, and have enough levels of Enhanced Tracking. Shooting down missiles on a millisecond's notice is hard.
__________________
Vicky 'Molokh', GURPS FAQ and uFAQ Keeper
vicky_molokh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2014, 02:15 PM   #8
vierasmarius
 
vierasmarius's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Oregon
Default Re: Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

For mounting the laser, you could use Shoulder Servomount (UT151). As for operating it, for simplicity's sake I'd assign it a "Parry" score rather than making every Point Defense attempt its own attack. Larger missiles would be easier to hit, but would also require more damage to disable, so I'd call that even and not assign modifiers for missile size. More advanced missiles would be faster or more evasive, so would have a penalty. Likewise, missiles fired at close range (or which pop up over cover) would be harder to intercept.

I'd actually handle ECM the same way, as a "Block" score modified by the sophistication of the missile's electronics. Of course, none of these stats exist yet. I'd be curious to see what results you folks get from intercepting missiles "manually", as a benchmark for the difficulty of these defense rolls.
vierasmarius is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2014, 02:46 PM   #9
McAllister
 
McAllister's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

Quote:
Originally Posted by vierasmarius View Post
For mounting the laser, you could use Shoulder Servomount (UT151). As for operating it, for simplicity's sake I'd assign it a "Parry" score rather than making every Point Defense attempt its own attack. Larger missiles would be easier to hit, but would also require more damage to disable, so I'd call that even and not assign modifiers for missile size. More advanced missiles would be faster or more evasive, so would have a penalty. Likewise, missiles fired at close range (or which pop up over cover) would be harder to intercept.

I'd actually handle ECM the same way, as a "Block" score modified by the sophistication of the missile's electronics. Of course, none of these stats exist yet. I'd be curious to see what results you folks get from intercepting missiles "manually", as a benchmark for the difficulty of these defense rolls.
The problem I have is that there's no difference between the time it takes for a missile to reach the end of the distance it can travel in a second and the time it takes to travel 10 meters. I suppose I'd have more than one chance to shoot down a missile if it's taking more than a second to get to me, and that might be the right amount of resolution.

Vicky, are you suggesting that I shoot the missile launchers first, or that I take an initial Aim action on the launchers and wait subsequently to count my point defense shots as aimed? Because the latter actually sounds like a cool idea, especially if I'm far enough out that no missiles can get to me in a second (and thus it's safe to take the Aim action).
McAllister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2014, 03:03 PM   #10
vicky_molokh
GURPS FAQ Keeper
 
vicky_molokh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
Default Re: Point Defence on a Dreadnought Battlesuit

Quote:
Originally Posted by McAllister View Post
Vicky, are you suggesting that I shoot the missile launchers first, or that I take an initial Aim action on the launchers and wait subsequently to count my point defense shots as aimed? Because the latter actually sounds like a cool idea, especially if I'm far enough out that no missiles can get to me in a second (and thus it's safe to take the Aim action).
Depends on what you're armed with. If the targets are clearly hittable, and the PD damage is enough to harm them, shooting immediately is the way to go.
If they're too tough, and the launchers themselves are protected except when actively launching, then it's a better idea to track as many targets as you have Enhanced Tracking + 1, with Opportunity Fire (Wait/Aim), and shoot as they launch, keeping Acc.
__________________
Vicky 'Molokh', GURPS FAQ and uFAQ Keeper
vicky_molokh is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:51 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.