[Spaceships] Pair of wing-mounted weapons

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by wellspring

However, I think it would be better to follow the precedent of existing ship examples and have multiple weapons be represented by multiple weapon systems. That's got all kinds of advantages. How do you distinguish between a ship like an X-wing with a battery of small lasers and a strike craft like a B wing with one large cannon?

Agreed. For an X-Wing I would use Medium Batteries. When I suggested using a single Major Battery I was envisioning something more like the the way the Death Star itself fires, where the beams converge on a single point, combine, then shoot off as a single beam. For multiple weapons all fixed and facing the same direction I'd just use Fixed Mount Medium Batteries. If a single pilot is aiming a number of the same type of weapon at the same target I would make a single to-hit roll for all fixed batteries, with the RoF being the combined RoF of all the weapons.

Originally Posted by wellspring

And if that cargo space bothers you, remember the Small Systems rule. That remaining third of a slot can be used for all kinds of other things.

Originally Posted by weby

Like the power plant for the weapons..

Or storing more missiles for your missile launchers.

Honestly, though, I would have no problem building an X-Wing as having two Medium Batteries with four laser beams and two Missile Launchers between them and calling it a day. Their exact placement is a special effect in the Spaceships rules anyway. The other option, of course, is to mount 5-6 Major Batteries the way the Starhawk does. It depends on how much of the ship you want relegate to weapon systems.

Originally Posted by wellspring

Has anyone else run into this? I feel like with the revival of the space sim that it's time to revisit this whole question so the game can map a little more closely to where the source material has been going.

I wouldn't worry about the difference. While there are some real-world differences in how a gimbal mount vs a true fixed mount can be aimed and fired, how much of that translates into the spaceships combat rules is pretty minimal. The only real difference that would definitely show up in the spaceship rules is that a true fixed mount can only be fired by aiming the ship while a gimbal mount can be fired in a limited arc from the direction it is facing, meaning it can be fired by its own gunner and not just the pilot.