Photon Torpedoes on a Fighter

[Doug Taylor]

Hey all. I worked some more on our Fighter craft, along with one of my players (who has put a lot of thought into it).

One question he asked (of which I have no idea) is about photon torpedoes. If we put a single torpedo launcher on each fighter, does it only get a single shot?

I don't know that there is much Trek canon on such a question, as fighters like this is more something we'd see on Battlestar Galactica or Star Wars. I'm really looking forward to seeing our fighters in action, though; should provide for some excellent and thrilling moments for all!

[Doug Taylor]

Anybody know what the abbreviation "ad" means when listed next to tractor beams? I normally would associate "a" with "aft", but the addition of the "d" has me and my player baffled.

[Tomcat]

The 'ad' stands for aft-dorsal - if you see a 'v' in any descriptors, it means ventral.

I have a few types of shuttles that I created on my web profiler that you are welcome to look at to see if they offer anything good (see the links below). They are based on my Miranda blueprints I bought from Federation Frontiers. As to your question, I would only allow one (or two max) photon shots from a fighter. Most attack craft have multiple hardpoints for weapon loadout, but I would still restrict a photon attack to two torp max.

Here are the links:

Galileo

Wasp

Hmmm... going to my profiler page, I thought I had typed up more of my shuttle/fighter craft (i.e. the Aladdin, the Killerbee, the Chisu, and the Worker bee). Apparently, I had not and so the two above are all I can offer for now. Sorry.

Still, the Wasp may be helpful with working out your own design.

T

[Toofy]

How exactly do tractor beams work anyway? I seem to not be able to track down any information on this, if anyone can point the way to a page/book I would be grateful.

[Tomcat]

Page 139 of Narrator's Guide offers some very basic functions. There is probably a lot more in Killerwhale's expanded starship operations.

[Toofy]

Excellent, thank you, I'll have to check out the expanded starship operations then.

[Owen E Oulton]

Fighters would be better off firing 13.5cm Photon Micro-Torpedoes. They do less damage, but that way a fighter could carry a dozen or so. Fighters in real life don't carry full-sized cruise missiles, they carry Sparrows and Sidewinders.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

There's three little thingies on each wing of the courier/fighter model. For some reason, I always throught they were missile housings for microtorpedoes, et cetera.

[Doug Taylor]

Great stuff, guys. Thanks to all, especially Tomcat with the examples!

[Tomcat]

Fighters would be better off firing 13.5cm Photon Micro-Torpedoes. They do less damage, but that way a fighter could carry a dozen or so. Fighters in real life don't carry full-sized cruise missiles, they carry Sparrows and Sidewinders.

Absolutely correct regarding fighters, but the Killerbee* Attack craft would be different. There is no reason that they would not be able to facilitate a standard photorp launcher, if not two - one on each hardpoint.

Up until the end of the Cold War, NATO and Soviet bloc Attack aircraft were well-capable of carrying ship-killing or land attack cruise missiles.

But it all comes down to the mission, the craft and the opponent - and the player's Star Trek game style. The Federation may never have had a need for putting that kind of fire on target via small craft, or to have small craft out as a standoff. But in my mind, the same would be true as today, small fighters launched from a mobile base are a lot cheaper, faster, and easier to reproduce than capital ships.

Just my two 100ths!

*Again, my reference for these type of attack craft comes from my blueprint drawings of the Miranda that I bought from Federation Frontiers.