Capital Weapons of the Star Fleet Universe
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The weapons of the Star Fleet Universe are slightly different from what is generally considered standard Star Trek canon. Overall, there is a wide variety of weapons available, with each race utilizing a different combination and strategy.
Ship to ship combat normally occurs at Tactical Warp Speeds, specifically between Warp 1 and a fraction over Warp 3 (up to 32 times the speed of light). Ships accelerating beyond this speed are highly vulnerable due to the fact that the warp field is unstable enough for virtually any weapons impact to have catastrophic results.
There is a diversity of weapon systems to be found in the Alpha Octant, Omega Octant and Small Magellanic Cloud - as each region developed its weapons technologies by and large independently from one another. For example, instead of the uniformity of phaser configurations among Alpha races, there are six distinct phaser types used by Omega powers, while in the SMC the races never developed phasers at all, instead developing warp-tuned lasers as their primary weapons.
The weapons fall under three main categories: Direct Fire, Seeking, and Other.
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[edit] Alpha Octant and Andromedan Weapons
[edit] Direct Fire Weapons
Direct Fire Weapons are weapons for which the time between firing and impact is virtually nonexistent, or in other words instantaneous impact. In the game Star Fleet Battles these weapons' effects are resolved at the moment of firing.
[edit] Phasers
Phasers are beam weapons utilizing phased energy. With the exception of the Andromedans, who use a weapon functionally identical, every race in the Alpha Octant utilizes phasers. Phasers fall into several subcategories.
- Type-1 Offensive
- This is the 'standard' capital ship phaser used by most races. It causes a relatively moderate amount of damage.
- Type-2 Offensive
- This is the same weapon as the Type-1, save that the fire control systems are not quite as efficient. The Western Races (Klingons, Lyrans, and Hydrans) used these well into the General War due to the expense of the Type-1 control gyros in their economy. The Andromedans did not use true phaser technology, but instead had a beam weapon that functioned nearly identically to the type-2 offensive phaser.
- Type-3 Defensive
- Operating with half the power requirement of the offensive models, the phaser-3 is usable primarily at point blank range. They are used mostly by those races that normally face drones as a point defense.
- Gatling Phaser
- The phaser-G is a weapon developed by the Hydrans. It consists of four phaser-3s in a common mount able to fire together or separately. Only the Hydrans were able to manufacture it cheaply, though the Lyran Democratic Republic used them extensively too. The Federation was sold the plans for the weapons by the Hydrans, but were only able to produce enough for their escorts.
- Type-4 Heavy Phaser
- The phaser-4 is the primary defensive weapon on medium and large bases. The weapon's requirements for stability mean that only a platform that is planetbound or locked in a fixed point by base positional stabilizers can fire the weapon. It was also a popular weapon in ground bases. It deals severe damage even at extended ranges.
[edit] Photon Torpedoes
The standard 'heavy weapon' of the Federation, it is deployed universally only by the Federation, though the Tholians have a few on some ships. While slower to arm than its primary rival, the Disruptor Bolt, it deals significant damage and at close ranges can be overloaded to the point that if a Federation starship is able to land a full salvo of four on an opposing cruiser, that cruiser is almost guaranteed to be crippled. The photon torpedo is also known for its versatility. It can be fired in a proximity mode against distant targets, increasing the chance of a hit but with damage halved. Its extremely flexible overload mode can -- via the application of additional warp power -- be incremented by single points from just above the standard damage all the way up to double the normal damage. Its most notable weakness is its sub-par accuracy which has earned the photon torpedo a tongue-in-cheek nickname as the 'Wonder Weapon,' as in, 'I wonder if it is going to hit this time.'
[edit] Disruptor Bolt
The Primary heavy weapon of the Klingons, Lyrans, and Kzinti, the Disruptor Bolt can fire twice as fast as the Photon Torpedo, but does only about half the damage. For this reason, disruptor armed ships tend to use an 'in and out' maneuver strategy while the Federation tends to surge forward for a devastating overload volley or snipe from extended ranges with proximity fuses.
Like the Photon Torpedo, the disruptor can be fired in an overload mode, but this is an all-or-nothing venture; there are no partial overloads for the disruptor. Disruptor bolts benefit from greater accuracy as well which balances the weapon against the Federation's Photon Torpedo.
[edit] Anti-Drones
A defensive weapon designed as a point defense against enemy drones. It consisted of inert slugs propelled at warp velocities at the drone. A single rack normally carried 6 or 12 shots before it had to reload, but required no noticeable energy. It can be thought of as the Star Fleet Universe equivalent to the modern-day Phalanx Close-In Weapon System.
[edit] Fusion Beam
A Hydran weapon, it was developed as a successor of their older Nova Beams (not discussed here at this time). The Fusion beam projected a beam of neutrinos and anti-neutrinos at the target, inflicting devastating damage at point blank range. Due to the short range of these weapons, the standard Hydran tactic was to charge at full speed towards its target and unleash an Alpha strike of fusions and phaser-Gs. If successful, it would devastate any ship of equal size, but required careful planning and nerves of steel.
Fusion beams not only can be overloaded, but can even be double-overloaded, known as a 'suicide overload.' The latter will, however, destroy the weapon upon firing.
[edit] Hellbore Cannon
A later development of the Hydrans, this weapon was quite effective at even long range. Two things made the Hellbore stand out though. First was the fact that the weapon enveloped the entire target damaging all sides, but doing the most damage where the shields were weakest (or absent). Secondly, it had an interesting interaction with the Lyran ESG.
Hellbores can be fired in a direct-damage mode; in this mode, the warhead is halved and all damage is applied to the facing shield. Hellbores also can be fired in an overload mode if the arming energy is increased during the second turn of arming.
[edit] Plasmatic Pulsar Device
A development of the Interstellar Concordium, the PPD was a direct fire plasma weapon that once it locked on, could deliver multiple successive volleys against a ship. Due to the way damage affects ships, smaller individual volleys were more likely to damage weapons and power systems than their damage equivalent in a single volley. This meant that the ISC were able to effectively strip away the weapons of many of their targets.
While the PPD can be overloaded, the effect is to generate additional pulses, rather than to increase the damage of each pulse.
[edit] Particle Cannons
A weapon used in the Tholian home galaxy, the refugees who reached the Milky Way were unable to maintain and build this weapon and were forced to use stolen disruptor technology (and purchased photons). The Seltorian Tribunal on the other hand, were able to maintain the ones on their ships and used them throughout their brief stay in the galaxy. The particle cannon only does minor damage, but is rapid fire and flexible in its use.
[edit] Shield Crackers/Web Breakers
Shield Crackers were used by the Seltorians in the Tholian Home galaxy in their former duties as auxiliaries to the Tholian Will. The weapon damaged only shields, allowing Seltorian marines to board and capture renegade ships intact. When Seltorian researchers found a way to modify the weapon to be able to disrupt Tholian Webs, it became the keystone of their successful overthrow of the Tholian Will.
[edit] Tractor/Repulsor Beams
The primary heavy weapon of the Andromedan Invaders, this weapon appeared to be a development of tractor beams. The weapon rapidly alternated a beam of tractor and repulsor energy, literally shaking the target apart. Like all Andromedan technology, even with captured examples, the Galactic Powers were unable to recreate, or even use this weapon. At close ranges, it can deliver the same damage potential as the type-4 phaser.
[edit] Mauler Cannon
Originally developed by the Romulans, it was at that time a failure due to the heavy energy requirements. With the Treaty of Smarba giving the Romulans tactical warp technology, the weapon became viable again. They sold the design to the Klingons who in turn sold (with Romulan permission) it on to the Lyrans.
The weapon was an immense beam weapon taking up large portions of the ship's hull. The ship normally carried the Mauler, large banks of batteries to fire it, and little else. While this meant that the ship would be limited in what it could do, it was able to deliver so much damage to a single point that it was possible to breach the shields of even a large starbase in a single blast. The down side was that the ship needed escorts to protect it on the approach, and the weapon would shake the ship apart if fired more than a few times.
[edit] Plasma Bolts
See Plasma Torpedo
[edit] Seeking Weapons
Seeking weapons flew in the same speed ranges as tactical warships and could take some moments to reach their targets. The Star Fleet Universe currently has only two classes of Seeking Weapons.
[edit] Drones
Drones, warp-speed guided missiles, are extensively used by the Federation, Klingons and Kzintis, and the Lyrans using them on their fighters. They are fired from rack launchers in the firing ship or from a fighter's weapon rails.
Early drones were too slow to be effectively used as a primary offensive weapon, and were used more for herding an enemy where you wanted them or forcing them to use their phasers for defensive fire. As speeds increased and the capability to put more 'in flight,' the lethality of the drone increased significantly. Used effectively, drones can severely ruin an opposing battle force.
Drones came in a number of different sizes from the tiny type-VI, best used against drones and fighters, to the Type-I and Type-IV anti-ship drones. Of particular note are the Type-III which had an extended range allowing them to be used in long-range bombardments by Drone Bombardment Ships. The massive Type-H could not normally be used by ships, but were launched from ground bases.
[edit] Plasma Torpedo
The plasma torpedo is the primary weapon of the Romulans, Gorn, and ISC. The weapons were slow to arm, used massive amounts of energy, and had only a limited endurance before dissipating in space. On the other hand, they did massive damage and were stable enough that they could actually be launched within a few seconds of the launcher being damaged beyond normal use. They could also be 'Bolted', launching them as a direct fire blast, but doing less damage. This was actually the first use of the plasma technology. The only weapon capable of defending against a plasma torpedo is the phaser.
[edit] Other Weapons
[edit] Expanding Sphere Generator
A system used by the Lyrans and LDR, the ESG was a field that Lyran ships could project in a sphere around themselves. This could be used defensively against drones, fighters and small ships, or could be used to ram into opposing vessels. It should be noted that while most energy weapons passed through the ESG field without any interaction, the Hellbore of the Hydrans struck the ESG whether either side wanted it to or not. This often meant that one was often used to counter the other.
[edit] Tholian Web
The distinctive weapon of the Tholian Holdfast was the web generator. In the most basic form seen in the Milky Way, it was deployed from ships into barriers that the Tholians could energize to capture or ward off enemies. With the arrival of the 312th Battle Squadron, a Tholian Will warship group, the ability to project the web at a distance was revealed to the galaxy.
[edit] Defensive Systems
[edit] Shields
The shields in the Star Fleet Universe were fields of energy projected to protect a starship or base. The base strength of a shield was fixed, but could be reinforced by the using ship for a significant energy cost. The shields operated in six sections covering different arcs of the ship to different extents.
[edit] Andromedan Power Absorbers
Perhaps the most feared ability of the Andromedan Invaders was their Power Absorber Panels. The Andromedans did not use shields, but used their PA panels to absorb the energy of incoming fire, and were able to use some of the absorbed energy to power their own systems and weapons. Fortunately for the Galactic Powers, the panels had a fixed limit on how much they could hold. Unfortunately, this required careful planning and fire to overload the panels.
