Starship Ordinance

Herein you will find a list with descriptions and stats for the fighter and capital ship based weapons of the Wing Commander Universe as translated into Alternity.

The majority of weapons currently in use by the various races of the Orion Arm are energy based, ranging from the comparatively weak laser to the tachyon gun. Mass Drivers in one form or another are still in use, but do not form the bulk of spaceborne weaponry. What follows is a listing of the currently used weapons of local space, a brief description, and with game statistics. For ease and speed of gameplay, weapons produce a flat damage amount per success level, plus a d4. This is true of all weapons. The following rules apply to all mounted ship weapons:

1) All weapons EXCEPT for the Stormfire are single shot per weapon;

2) All weapons are of Amazing firepower;

3) Power per shot is per barrel - fighter guns are linked in groups and will not fire unless all currently linked weapons have the power to fire;

4) Pilots may freely change weapon linkages at the beginning of a round, but must spend an action to do it at any other point in a round;

5) #/Round is the maximum number of times a weapon may be fired in a round, regardless of power or actions available.

Guns and Projectors

Laser Cannon
The oldest space weapon, the laser in current use is a pulse beam which fires coherent light at its target. Compared to other weapons, the laser does minimal damage, but eats very little power and can thus be fired quickly, or in concert with bigger guns to add just that little oomph. Lasers also have one of the best ranges of all fighter based weapons.

Mass Driver
One of the second oldest weapon designs, the mass driver has been updated over the decades. Currently, the mass driver takes in elemental matter from space as well as from a small store inside the ship and eletromagnetically knits the matter together to form a projectile which is flung at high speed toward the target. Mass drivers are solid, dependable weapons with short range. They have stood the test of time, and remain in wide service despite the advent of more powerful energy weapons.

Charging Mass Driver
This modification to the standard mass driver has increased its usefulness tenfold. In this design the pilot "charges" the projectile before firing, increasing the damage by increasing the size and kinetic energy of the shell before release. The longer the pilot waits, the more powerful the projectile becomes, to a point - after which excess energy bleeds off to prevent overloads and explosions inside the system. This gun can catastrophically damage most fighters in a single hit, but due to its slow charging rate, it is an impractical anti-fighter weapon. It is, however, excellent for anti-turret runs against capships and starbases.

Ion Cannon
This weapon accelerates atomic particles to near-light speed and then releases them in pulses. The pulses deliver kinetic damage, and are also radioactive, though this is more of a curiosity, since by the time the cannon has worn down shields and armor, the explosion renders radiation damage to the pilot moot.

Particle Cannon
A mirror image of the Ion Cannon, this originally Kilrathi technology takes sub-atomic and nuclear particles and accelerates them to near light speed before slinging them at a target where they create miniature nuclear explosions on impact.

Stormfire Mark II
Developed by the Union of Border Worlds Defense Force, the stormfire is an ammunition dependent mass driver carrying depleted uranium armor piercing shells which are expelled at extraordinary rates of fire. The individual shells do minimal damage, but the sheer number and speed with which they strike can quickly mount making this an excellent armor remover during a dogfight. To find how many rounds from a Stormfire hit the target, subtract the attackers roll from 20, and divide by two. Multiply damage rolled by this number, then roll any structural armor checks.

Tachyon Cannon
Based on the same technology which is the basis for interstellar age communication and the first attempts at jump drives, the tachyon gun traps and decelerates tachyons, particles which naturally travel faster than light. Once decelerated, tachyons possess enormous potential energy. The decelerated particles launch in pulse streams and release their energy upon impact with shields or solid matter. Tachyon guns are one of the most devastating "light" fighter weapons available.

Plasma Cannon
The ultimate fighter weapon, this heavy mount cannon is the baby brother of the plasma/anti-matter cannons which are mounted by most capital ships. It projects magnetically cohesive bolts of hydrogen in near-fusion at a target. Equal in temperature to a small star's surface, a successful hit can be quite effective in disrupting shields and melting armor from its target. A power hog, and extraordinary slow to recharge and aim, any fighter that gets caught in its blast is fragged before the pilot can blink. Due to its slow aiming and refire, it is generally reserved for small capships and their turrets.

Meson Blaster
This weapon flings unique particles known as mesons at a target. Having a short half life, they embed themselves in material and then decay destroying matter from the inside out with heat and radiation. The current design is quite old, and only slightly beats a laser in effectiveness.

Reaper Cannon
A advancement on the Ion Cannon, the Reaper is a fast firing gun which not only accelerates the particles, but modifies their polarity to increase damage slightly and reduce overall power consumption. Reaper cannons are expensive to make however, and are reserved to special duty craft for the most part.

Leech Gun
Developed late in the Terran-Kilrathi war by humans, the Leech gun does not cause damage but instead sets up a energy feedback through shield emitters and external surfaces, degrading the effectiveness of onboard power systems. This allows the bearer of the leech guns to capture an enemy vessel intact. Leech gun blasts cannot be stopped by any known shielding or armor. Their damage is actually to the available power factors of a target ship, at the end of any round in which a target ship has been leeched, but not reduced to zero power, the target regains half of their lost power capability at the beginning of the new round. Leech guns do not have the power to affect the energy systems on ships larger than corvette-class.

Turret guns
Many bombers and capital ships possess turreted weapons. Consisting of a linked pair of the chosen weapon, turret weapons possess their own armor, tracking, and power systems, as well as computer controlled firing systems on most bomber craft. This self contained design not only makes a turret defensible in its own right, it increases its range and damage as it has dedicated power to meet its firing needs. The following weapons are available in turret configuration: Laser, Mass Driver, Stormfire Mk II, Particle Cannon, and Tachyon Gun.

Anti-Matter Cannon
Perhaps the most devastating weapon in use, anti-matter cannons are mounted only on capital ships which are capable of providing the massive energy necessary to power them. Anti-matter cannons are slow to aim, and slow to charge, but their projectile is immense and deadly as the anti-matter not only disintegrates what matter it contacts, but that contact releases additional energy which damages and vaporizes surviving material nearby. Anti-matter cannons are generally reserved for firing on enemy capital ships, but fighters should make sure never to get between capships in a pounding match while the cannons are firing.

Missiles and Torpedoes

Modern missiles are capable of translating ¼ of their damage through capital ship phase shields. Torpedoes are capable of bypassing such shields.

Proximity / Missile Mine

The proximity mine is limited range high explosive device. Possessing small grav thrusters, a standard proximity mine can attempt to catch a close moving target within its passive sensor range. Even if it misses direct contact, it will attempt a proximity detonation (quarter damage). In large numbers, proximity mines can be downright fatal, and are good for trapping stable spacial phenomena, like jump gates.

Friend or Foe (FF) Missile
This standard missile listens for the coded recognition signals emitted by the allies of the launcher. The first target ship in range that does not transmit the codes becomes the missile's target. This can be a problem if a friendly ship's communication system is damaged, as their transmitter may not be in a condition to transmit the code.

Image Recognition (IR) Missile
This missile downloads a electronic and visual signature of its target ship upon launch, constantly checking this "model" against all targets to maintain its lock. A fire and forget weapon, it is very difficult to throw off.

Long Range IR Missile
Exactly the same as the standard IR Missile but with a larger fuel pod for longer range targets.

Enhanced Long Range IR Missile
Bearing a higher yield warhead, this new IR design has range and packs a wallop.

High-explosive Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM)
Designed as a turretkiller, this missile is generally loaded for capital ship runs, locks onto sensor emitting sources of a certain frequency, and flies in for the kill. This missile cannot target anything much smaller than a bomber's turret.

Long Range HARM
Same as the standard harm, but with a larger fuel pod for greater range, and a slightly larger warhead.

Enhanced Long Range HARM
Designed to blow turrets before your interceptors reach turret range, its the best introduction to an enemy capship.

Heat Seeker (HS)
An old design, but still viable after centuries, the heat seeker locks on to an enemies exhaust, thus limiting it to rear aspect. Thankfully its fast, and able to catch most things even at full afterburn.

DumbFire (DF)
An unguided rocket, the dumbfire launches and keeps going in the direction it was launched until it hits something, at which point it explodes lots. Good against slow moving targets, it can't be spoofed, but it can be dodged. (Dumbfires require targets to be DIRECTLY in front of the firing ship, and do damage as 1 category worse (good becomes ordinary) if the target can acheive extreme manuevers.)

Rocket
Mounted in stagger-fire rocket pods, each is a smaller, faster version of a DF, good against transports and other slow movers. It suffers the same limitations as a DF, but up to four can be launched at a target with a single action, increasing the likelihood of a successful hit.

Swarmer Pod
A laser guided version of a rocket pod, the swarmer pod launches 7 swarmer missiles with a single launch. As long as the pilot can maintain a forward laser lock on the target, the missiles can't be spoofed. If they successfully hit, roll d4+3 to see how many actually strike the target. Multiply damage by number of missiles that hit, then make armor checks if available.

Tracker Missile
Designed for use against numerically superior foes, the Tracker Missile is a bulky missile which splits 3 seconds after launch into 5 separate FF missiles. Each FF missile is as per standard, but starts 1 phase away from the launchers position. What follows is the statistic for the tracker launch pod.

Targeting Disk
Not truly a missile, the targeting disk is a launch designed to adhere to a target capship's hull, and emit a beacon which other munitions can follow unerringly to the target.

Leech Missile
Designed as a large scale power disruptor, the leech missile is effective against fighter and capital ship craft. More powerful than a leech gun, the impact of a Leech Missile drains 10 power factors from the target ship immediately. In every phase thereafter, the feedback drains 15 power factors. This continues for 11 phases after the impact phase, or until the target ship is dead in space, whichever comes first. If the target ship enters a new round functional, they regain ½ power factors lost in the previous round, just like a leech gun.

Light Torpedo
Also known as phase transit missiles, torpedoes are super heavy missiles designed solely for the purpose of taking out major sections of a capital ship. One of the reasons torpedoes are so slow is their immense warhead. The other reason is that they carry powerful sensor and shield emitter technology which allows them to match the phase and frequency of capital ship shields so that they can pass through and deploy their warhead without any reduction in power. The light torpedo is a standard version for use against small class capital ships.

Enhanced Light Torpedo
The standard light torpedo with greater range, better targeting, and bigger warhead.

Torpedo
The big version of the torpedo, it is designed for use even on dreadnought class capships.

Enhanced Torpedo
Designed to annhillate whole compartments of even the largest ship, the enhanced torpedo is a nuclear blast not to be missed.

CapShip Missile
The most dreaded capital ship launchable weapon, the capship missile can be set up with a variety of warheads, and is used in the destruction of capships and the bombardment of planetary targets that don't wish to be claimed. CapShip missiles are beyond compare in their destructive potential.

MACE Tactical Nuclear Warhead
The only fighter launched non-directional, unguided nuclear warhead, the MACE is detonated by signal. After launch, the pilot may not use any other weapon systems until the MACE is detonated by a release of the targeting computer from monitoring the warhead. At that point, the MACE explodes with an wide area blast capable of vaporizing whole wings of fighters.

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