Missiles and Rockets (ship-mounted)

Kinetic weapon systems fire ship-mounted, self-propelled warheads at a target vessel.

Weapons from original SFKH game

Assault Rockets

• Restrictions: Moving Player Only, Limited Supply, Forward-Firing

• Range: 5

• Damage Table Modifier: -10

• Hull Damage Rating: 2d10+4

• Minimum Hull Size: 1 (the ship must have an MR of less than 4)

These are usually carried by fighters and other small ships, to serve as anti-ship weapons. Assault rockets are powered by a brief fusion reaction which causes them to fly even faster than torpedoes. Unlike torpedoes, however, assault rockets are not guided missiles. They rely on their tremendous speed to hit their target before it can dodge away. When a fighter runs out of assault rockets, it must dock at an Assault Carrier or a Space Station to be reloaded.

Rocket Battery (AKA Missile Battery)

• Restriction: Limited Supply

• Range: 3

• Damage Table Modifier: -10

• Hull Damage Rating: 2d10

• Minimum Hull Size: 5

This is a cluster of small missile launchers. These missiles are smaller than assault rockets; yet they cause nearly as much damage as an assault rocket, because many missiles are fired together. A standard rocket battery holds 24 rockets at once. Rocket batteries usually have three to four reloads in storage, for a total of 72-96 rockets total.

Torpedo

• Restrictions: Moving Player Only, Limited Supply

• Range: 4

• Damage Table Modifier: -20

• Hull Damage Rating: 4d10

• Minimum Hull Size: 5

This is a self-guided nuclear sub-munition bomb that homes in on its target after being launched. Torpedoes are usually mounted on the nose of a ship, or its side, but still facing forward. Torpedoes are propelled by prolonged fission reactions which enable them to travel at tremendous speeds. They are among the most common weapons available to larger warships. A torpedo has a range of 4 hexes, or 40 thousand kilometers.

Seeker Missiles

• Restrictions: Limited Supply

• Damage Table Modifier: -20

• Hull Damage Rating: 5d10+4

• Minimum Hull Size: 7

A ship that carries seekers can drop them at any time. Once a seeker missile is placed, it will not move until it is activated.

Immediately after it is activated, the seeker will move two hexes (20,000 kilometers) toward the nearest ship. On the next turn, the seeker will move four hexes toward the closest ship. It will continue accelerating at the rate of two hexes per turn (six on the third turn, eight on the fourth, etc.), and can make an unlimited number of facing changes to keep itself aimed at the nearest ship.

The seeker may change targets many times, because a different ship may be closest to it at the beginning of each turn. The seeker cannot tell the difference between friendly and enemy ships, and will always fly toward the closest ship. If two or more ships are an equal distance from the seeker, the missile will aim at the largest ship.

A seeker detonates as soon as it enters a hex containing a ship, or a ship enters the hex containing the activated seeker. If the hex contains more than one ship, the seeker will attack the largest.

On the turn that a seeker moves 12 hexes, it will automatically detonate. If there is no ship within range at that time, the explosion will do no damage. Seekers will not be attracted to planets, moons, asteroids, or space stations.

Interceptor Missiles (ICM)

• Minimum Hull Size: 5

Interceptors are small missiles which can be fired at incoming torpedoes, assault rockets, rocket battery barrages, and the like. They explode right before the incoming missile, creating a field of shrapnel to damage their warheads. This is not an offensive weapon, but a defensive system.

Concussion Mines

• Restrictions: Limited Supply

• Range: 0

• Damage Table Modifier: -20

• Hull Damage Rating: 3d10+5

• Minimum Hull Size: 7

Mines are activated when an enemy ship comes within 10,000 kilometers of them. Only one mine can be placed every 10,000 kilometers...although the hex can be re-mined after the first mine detonates.

Although not rocketry, these weapons are still serviced by Rocket Weapon Gunners. They are deployed in large numbers by Minelayers over a large area of space. They are best deployed in and around debris fields, as the openness of space makes it hard to hide them. Proximity sensors on the mines cause them to detonate. They are thermonuclear weapons, and thus not as effective in space as they would be on a planet's surface...although the spread and blast still cover a lot of ground. Because of the danger, all but the most foolish or desperate captain would try to navigate around them.

Optional Weapons

Comet Gun

• Restrictions: Limited Supply, Forward-Firing

• Range: 7

• Hull Damage Rating: 6d10+8

• Minimum Hull Size: 15

These keel-mounted weapons can be carried only by larger warcraft. Comets are created when the ship releases and then compresses clouds of vapor in the gun’s magazine. The vapor crystallizes and forms an extremely dense artificial meteor which is then fired out at high velocity, usually at planets. A single comet tends to cause incredible seismic upheaval on impact; if launched into an ocean or sea, the comet will often create devastating tidal waves.

Gravity Well Projectiles (GWP)

• Restrictions: Limited Supply, Moving Player Only

• Range: 6

• Hull Damage Rating: FATAL

• Minimum Hull Size: 14

These missiles are among the most dreaded weapons in the Frontier. Upon detonation, a gravity well projectile creates an artificial singularity (read: black hole) which lasts for six turns (1 hour). Any space station, vessel, or planet within 20 thousand kilometers (all neighboring hexes) of the gravity well is dragged in and torn apart immediately…as is any ship entering the detonation zone until the sixth turn ends.

If a ship’s GWP launcher is hit and damaged, there is a 60% chance that one of its GWPs will detonate. If the target ship fails its survival roll, a singularity will be created with normal results. The target vessel will implode and be automatically destroyed; all other ships (friendly and otherwise) caught in its hex—or in the immediate radius of that hex—will be pulled into the singularity and ripped apart. If the survival roll succeeds but the gravity well projectile-launcher is hit a second time, this risk increases to 80%. A third hit will automatically detonate any un-launched GWPs; needless to say, none of this applies to vessels which have already used their entire store of gravity well projectiles.

GWPs are not kept aboard space stations due to the risk involved; bringing a gravity well projectile on board a UPF space station (save under extraordinary circumstances) is punishable by life in prison, or death by vacuum...as is failing to report same.

Shatter Drones

• Restrictions: Limited Supply

• Damage Table Modifier: -20

• Hull Damage Rating: 5d10

• Minimum Hull Size: 5

Shatter drones were introduced by the Sathar. A shatter drone is, essentially, a ship that has been turned into a huge bomb. They are used to destroy large, tight formations of enemy ships.

A shatter drone carries no live crew. Computer and robot controls allow it to perform as a normal frigate. However, the ship's engines are rigged with fusion detonators; plastic explosive is commonly used as the booster.

When the drone detonates, the explosion inflicts the equivalent of one torpedo hit on every other ship within 10 thousand kilometers.

Lifeboats can be modified for use as shatter drones; a frigate can carry one such drone, while a battleship can carry four drones.

Weapons from KH Vector

Ion Torpedoes (IT; aka Assault Rockets)

ITs are basically thermonuclear recoilless rifles. An ion torpedo is primarily used by small warships to attack large ones; it may not be used by a ship with a hull size of more than 4, or with an ADF of less than 5. The weapon consists of a tube, containing a projectile and a thermonuclear propellant charge. The tube has a small solid fuel chemical rocket engine which fires for a moment after it is released. The weapon propellant then detonates and fires a connected rod-style warhead made of Collapsium. This warhead shatters and spreads out into an ultra-fine web of collapsium. As the material is so thin, and the warhead is so large, it blankets a huge area. When the wires hit a hull, they slash into the ship...causing far more damage than mere shrapnel would. Ion Torpedoes are considered Military Weaponry, and are restricted in most systems. Even transporting them as cargo requires special permits and inspections, because of the threat they represent to population centers. Like all nuclear weapons, they can be easily detected by planetary scanning systems. Attempting unauthorized approaches or landings with such devices is typically punishable by death. ITs are not sold on the open market, but black market prices are reasonable; the devices may be had for about 750,000 credits each...with volume discounts.

Specifications

The Ion Torpedo is 10 meters long, and 1 meter in diameter. They mass 10 tons each. The launcher(s) do not add mass, and do not take hull space; yet each torpedo and its launching hardpoint counts as 20 cubic meters of hull volume, even if they are externally mounted. This reflects the usual cargo container rule of how hardpoints work. Most fighters mount them internally anyway.

Ion Torpedoes have an effective range of 4 hexes, with the following hull damage ratings.

• Type-1 Ion Torpedo: 3d10+5

• Type-2 Ion Torpedo: 6d10

• Type-3 Ion Torpedo: 12d10

Shatter Pods (optional)

As its name suggests, a shatter pod is an escape pod which has been converted into a shatter drone. They are not self-guided, but must be given a target when launched. Each shatter pod contains enough warheads to blanket a 4-hex radius with thermonuclear blasts. A pod must maneuver within 4 hexes of a target (space station, warship, et al) to damage that target. Even shooting down a shatter pod carries a great risk, due to their massive blast radius.

• Detonation Hex (10,000 kilometers): 8d10

• 1-Hex Radius (20,000 kilometers): 4d10

• 2-Hex Radius (30,000 kilometers): 2d10

• 3-Hex Radius (40,000 kilometers): 1d10

• 4-Hex Radius (50,000 kilometers): 1d5

Seeker Missiles (SM)

The Seeker is an AI-controlled, proximity-detonating thermonuclear homing missile. A small, one-use ZENI engine gives it 30 ADF points. It may use up to 10 ADF points per turn. The missile has hardened defenses, along with super-conductive coatings. A seeker acts like a small spacecraft, maneuvering and dodging, until it can detonate near its target. A seeker explosion causes the following hull damage against any spacecraft in the same hex.

• Type-1 Seeker Missile: 5d10+7

• Type-2 Seeker Missile: 10d10

• Type-3 Seeker Missile: 20d10

• Type-4 Seeker Missile: 40d10

The detonation will blanket radio communications for the next turn. A seeker's AI may be told to imitate a small spacecraft, lie in wait, hide among debris, or perform any type of activity imaginable. A seeker has 3 hull points; it may be targeted by defensive fire (beam weapons, ICM's, Mass Drivers, and other SMs).

SMs are military hardware; they cost around 1,500,000 credits on the black market. Versions with advanced defenses cost upwards of 3,500,000 credits each. The UPF Navy is also rumored to have "anti-seeker" missiles, which are faster with a smaller warhead; these weapons are rapidly replacing the short-ranged ICMs. A seeker is rectangular in cross-section, and measures 1m x 2m x 10m. With a launching hardpoint, they take up 30 cubic meters, and mass 30 tons.

A Seeker has a base 95% chance of detonating close enough to damage its target. Subtract 10 for every ADF point the target used that turn. Unless the firer rolls a 9600, the seeker may continue to maneuver for another try. 

Antimatter Torpedoes (AT)

Antimatter Torpedoes are thermonuclear homing missiles with sub-munition (MERV) warheads. They are used against capital ships, and against groups of fighters that are foolish enough to be caught together. ATs have neither the range nor the deadliness of seekers, but they are far more reliable. An antimatter torpedo has a maximum ADF of 8 per turn, with a range of 5 hexes (50,000 kilometers). Its hull damage ratings are as follows.

• Type-1 Antimatter Torpedo: 4d10+6

• Type-2 Antimatter Torpedo: 8d10

• Type-3 Antimatter Torpedo: 15d10

• Type-4 Antimatter Torpedo: 30d10

An antimatter torpedo has a base 95% chance to hit a target in its area of effect. A ship may only provide defensive fire for vessels in its own hex. A Z-Gun gives a -50% defense, and every other beam weapon fired defensively against sub-munitions gives a -10% defense. A roll of 01-05 by the firer will always hit. The weapon deploys into sub-munition mode two hexes away from its target, so the whole torpedo cannot be targeted any closer than that. Antimatter torpedoes have 5 hull points.

Antimatter torpedoes are 25 meters long, 4 meters in diameter, and mass 300 tons apiece. They are not available except to large organizations and governments. 

Mass Drivers (MD)

Also called the Zebulon Effect Rail Gun, or Z-Gun for short, these weapons are really just high-powered magnetic rail guns; a Zebulon field projector effects each projectile as it leaves the weapon. The projectiles are .05 caliber rounds of depleted federanium, accelerated by a long magnetic rail "barrel"; said barrel telescopes out to a length of 20 meters from the turret when in use. Despite their high speed, the projectiles would be relatively ineffective at penetrating duralloy and plasteel hulls, if not for the Z-field increasing their mass after they leave the barrel. As many as 10,000 rounds might be fired in a 1-second burst. Z-guns require capacitors in much the same way as beam weapons. A Mass Driver has a range of just 1 hex; yet it is very effective at destroying incoming Seekers, Torpedoes, Shatter Pod sub-munitions, and fighters that get too up-close and personal.

Z-guns are turreted weapons produced by just one manufacturer in the frontier: Wartech. A mass driver is installed on UPF ships of Destroyer class or above, in place of the older interceptor missile systems. Each Z-gun takes 200 cubic meters of space and weighs 50 tons. It carries 20 bursts of ammunition in the standard magazine. Its capacitor bank (10PF) is integral to the turret, but may be powered by other capacitor banks. It does 1d10+3 damage, and almost always hits even high-speed targets. Non-maneuvering foes may be targeted at any range; yet the weapon then does only 1d5 damage, due to the projectiles losing the Zebulon effect outside a range of 1 hex. The projectiles are not fast enough to be effective against maneuvering targets past a range of 1 hex. Z-Guns cost 5,500,000 credits apiece.

Mass drivers hit on a base chance of 80%. Subtract -5 for every ADF used by the target that turn.