Railguns and Mass Drivers

Railguns and Mass Drivers

Early technology, pretty much dropped by TL10. A kinetic energy weapon, relies on firing dumb projectiles at the target. Railguns tend to use lots of lighter projectiles, while a mass driver uses a smaller number of heavier projectiles. Mass drivers may use high explosive rounds, or even micro-nukes.

Rated according to guesswork, mostly based on KE of projectiles.
Damage done by a railgun or mass driver is log(MJ) * 60.
Each multiple of short range, railguns do -10 damage.
Mass drivers do not drop damage with range.
Mass drivers count as a Hv weapon.
Railguns have a -2 penalty to effective size for damage purposes.

The real problem they have is that over any significant distance, accuracy is appalling. Mass drivers do not drop damage over range. Railguns do, since they rely on lots of projectiles hitting the target, which tend to spread out over distance.

Turret Railguns

Railgun turret mounts are either light or heavy. Fixed mounts are always facing forward, and normally only mounted on fighters. Heavy versions have a higher muzzle velocity, but use the same projectile type.

TL	Weapon	Atk	Dmg	Inc	Short	Size
8	50MJ Railgun	+2	+100	1”	5”	8
8	150MJ Heavy Railgun	+5	+130	2”	5”	13
9	75MJ Railgun	+2	+110	2”	5”	8
9	225MJ Heavy Railgun	+5	+140	3”	5”	13
10	100MJ Railgun	+2	+120	3”	5”	8
10	300MJ Heavy Railgun	+5	+150	4”	5”	13

A fixed mount is as per a light railgun turret, with the following modifications:

+4 size
-2 attack

A railgun Light Turret has 15 turns worth of shots. A Heavy Turrett has 25 turns of shots.

Turret Mass Drivers

Mass drivers use heavier, slower projectiles than railguns. They also tend to fire a much smaller number of projectiles.

TL	Weapon	Atk	Dmg	Inc	Short	Size
9	100MJ Mass Driver	+0	+120	1”	5”	10
9	300MJ Heavy Dass Driver	+2	+150	2”	5”	15
10	150MJ Mass Driver	+0	+130	2”	5”	10
10	450MJ Heavy Mass Driver	+2	+160	3”	5”	15
11	200MJ Mass Driver	+0	+140	3”	5”	10
11	600MJ Heavy Mass Driver	+2	+165	4”	5”	15

At TL9+, there is the option of HE warheads for the projectiles.

HE rounds do +10 damage and count as +2 size.

At TL11+, there is the option of micro-nuke warheads. These are very expensive, so rarely used, plus are negated by any target using Nuclear Dampers.

Micro-nukes do +100 damage and count as size +15.

Barbettes

Railguns and mass drivers do not come in barbette mounts.

Bay Railguns

Railguns and mass drivers do not come in bay mounts.